Opponents of a planned Drag Queen Story Hour made their feelings known to the Mobile City Council on Tuesday, but received little satisfaction other that what came from knowing they'd been heard.

The event in question is sponsored by the nonprofit LGBTQ advocacy group Rainbow Mobile, and will be held Sept. 8 in the Ben May Main Branch of the Mobile Public Library. Plans call for Wade Brasfield, appearing as "Khloe Kash," to read "Stella Brings the Family" and "Rainbow Fish" to children ages 3-8. Such events have been presented around the country, often but not always in libraries; this is to be the first in Alabama.

On Monday, opponents packed a meeting of the Mobile County Commission, describing the event as "the opening salvo in a clearly defined cultural war" and part of a "national agenda and a national plan to indoctrinate children."

One commissioner, Connie Hudson, said she found the event inappropriate but the county had no legal authority to intervene. Another, Jerry Carl, suggested that it might be time to examine the library budget. (The library system receives $1.2 million from the county, about 13 percent of its 2017-18 budget.)

A smaller but still substantial crowd of about 50 opponents turned out for the Mobile City Council's meeting on Tuesday. They again found some sympathetic ears, but as a whole the council accepted the library's argument that the event was protected by First Amendment concerns. No council member suggested taking action against the event or the library system.

The Rev. Fred Wolfe, who'd spoken to the County Commission on Monday, was first to address the council. He said the matter was "heavy on the heart of many, many Mobilians." It was the latest twist in a long effort to promote secular humanism and moral relativism in American society, he said. Allowing the event to happen at a library was wrong, he said, because the setting lent it credibility. Furthermore, he said, "they do have an agenda. It's a nationwide agenda. And it is to say the alternate lifestyle, LGBTQ, is an acceptable lifestyle and that we need to approve it and we need to be for it and not be against it. Well, we cannot do that. The Bible teaches clearly that sex outside of marriage, sex outside the union of a man and woman in the covenant of marriage, is a sin."

Lisa Strong, who identified herself as "a mother, a sister and a wife," said she had bene "greatly disturbed and saddened" by news of the event. She said she was motivated to oppose it out of a biblical edict to protect children. It was "not a battle of hatred, it's not a battle of small-mindedness," she said. "It's just time to take a stand for God."

Both Wolfe and Strong were applauded. Afterward, Council Vice President Levon Manzie called for Scott Kinney, executive director of the Mobile Public Library system, to address the issue.

Kinney acknowledged that it was "a very difficult issue" for many present, and said he respected the position of those who'd come out to show opposition. But he said it came down to the MPL's policy for its meeting rooms: As a public institution it stresses maximum availability to the public, with minimal restrictions on who can book a meeting room.

Kinney said the policy had been subject to legal review, and that he'd discussed the current situation with City Attorney Ricardo Woods. Woods took pains to clarify that he had not given a formal legal opinion on this event, and that the administration of Mayor Sandy Stimpson had neither reviewed nor endorsed it. But he didn't disagree with the view that it was primarily a First Amendment issue.

Kinney said MPL meeting rooms had been used by faith-based groups, for Bible study sessions and even for the first few months of meetings of a new church, before it found a long-term home. This was an event presented by an outside group not funded by the library, he said, and fell within the rules.

"I know that's tough for this group to hear and I do appreciate your concerns," Kinney said.

The issue did not relate to any actual agenda item before the council, meaning council members did not have to cast votes or explain them. Several took the opportunity to speak, however.

Councilman John Williams asked if the council had any legal right to close a facility or deny access in such circumstances. Council Attorney Wanda Cochran said it did not.

Councilman Joel Daves delivered an extended and forceful summary on the founding fathers' decision to enshrine freedom of speech, saying they had "intentionally created a government of limited powers."

Citing a long history of court rulings, Daves said, "Our founders understood that whenever the government acts to limit speech they do so with the stated purpose of protecting the people, when the real purpose is to quiet disturbing and irritating voices. It is only controversial, offensive, even immoral speech that requires protection. Our founders understood that the truth is most likely to emerge from a marketplace of ideas that is open and robust. Our founders understood that the quickest way to lose your own rights is to deny them to someone else."

From there, Richardson thundered around to a course similar to Daves'. Among other things, he referenced a flap a couple of years earlier about a Mardi Gras parading society, the Comic Cowboys, and their sometimes controversial satire. When he's raised the possibility of regulating the group, he said, First Amendment arguments had trumped all.

"Do you think the atheists want religious people up in the library?" he asked. "NO! Do you think religious people want the atheist people in the library? NO! Let me just say this. That the umbrella in this city has got to be big enough for all us to get under. I don't care if you're straight, gay -- everybody got to get under the umbrella. Because for more than 200 years my ancestors couldn't get under that umbrella. Do you think I'm fixin' to kick somebody out from under the umbrella? I'm not going to do it."

Richardson said that rather than seeking government action, churches had to address their concerns in their own way. "Christians, we are God's people. The best we can do down here is spread the word," he said. "Spread the truth. Turn the light on so folk can know how to get home. That's the best we can do. And if they follow the darkness, we can't do nothing about it."

Manzie likewise said he found a distinction between something he saw as morally wrong and a violation of the law. He said he felt it ultimately was parents' business to decide whether to take their children to the event or not.

It appeared some members of the audience would have liked a chance to speak, but Manzie said that all those who'd signed up to speak had done so and that was that. With no vote at hand, the council prepared to move on to regular business. Those who'd come to show their position on the one issue departed.

Some said that while they were disappointed, they weren't finished.

Kay Day of Theodore and a representative with the Common Sense Campaign tea party said she's expecting a large crowd to rally against the story hour, with a protest starting around 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 8 outside the Ben May Main branch library in downtown Mobile.

"A pastor will be there and we'll have a song and we will pray and anyone with a reasonable intelligence that would like to speak to the issue and not attack a person, we might allow that," said Day. "But it is our intention to stand and voice the concerns of the citizens of Mobile County and be peaceful and just show that we are here."

Day said she was disappointed with the council's defense of the First Amendment as the reason why nothing can be done to stop the story hour from occurring.

"Once you say, 'free speech,' I get that," she said. "But when it goes beyond that and injures and harms ... If you go to the theater and it's PG, will they let the children in? No. What are we doing here? If you want to do something like (Drag Queen Story Hour), have it in your private home. I would have no problem with that."

The Rev. David Gonnella, pastor at Magnolia Springs Baptist Church in Theodore, said the First Amendment argument doesn't hold up when "exposing children to moral deviancy."

He said, "It's the job of the community leaders like the City Council to stand up and say, 'you won't do that here.'"

Kinney said the library was prepared for activism outside the event, but didn't anticipate disorder.

"I'm aware there is some possibility of protest on both sides," he said. If the crowds become large enough to create security or traffic concerns, he said, the library would work with the police department as needed.

(AL.com reporter John Sharp contributed to this report.)