(Frankfort, Kentucky) LGBT rights groups and child advocates are denouncing legislation that would bar gays and lesbians from adopting or fostering children in Kentucky.

On Wednesday, close to 200 people demonstrated against the measure at the Capitol, calling the legislation “a hate bill.”

The LGBT civil rights group The Fairness Campaign organized the rally.

Among those who took part were Anthony Harland-Bennett, his partner and their 7-year old daughter. Harland-Bennett told The Associated Press that they adopted their little girl when they lived in Wisconsin, but now that they have moved to Goshen, Kentucky they may have to leave the state out of fear their daughter could be taken from them.

“Here in Kentucky, it is that hate that ought to be banned and not our family,” he told the AP. “You cannot legislate compassion. However, we can and must leave hatred and bigotry out of our laws.”

Children’s advocates also denounced the bill, saying it would deny hundreds of children in state care from living in loving homes. About 1,878 Kentucky children are eligible for adoption.

Protestors buttonholed lawmakers lobbying them to oppose the bill.  But its sponsor, state Sen. Gary Tapp (R) defended the measure denying it is aimed at gays and saying it is meant to provide children with homes that have a mother and a father.

“The bill is necessary for the welfare of our children,” he told the Courrier-Journal. “It’s a proven fact that children are better off raised in a safe, loving environment.”

The conservative Family Foundation supports the bill.

“Gay rights activists have decided this is a political issue when it is really an issue about the welfare of children,” David Edmunds, a policy analyst for The Family Foundation told the AP. “I believe that most Kentuckians understand just through common sense that children who are wards of the state deserve the most stable environment that we can find.”

Tapp’s bill is modeled after similar ban that was approved by voters in Arkansas last November.