ASHLAND, Ky. (WSAZ) -- Protesters stood outside the Paramount Arts Center Tuesday night before the Melissa Etheridge concert, letting audience members know they didn't condone their choice to buy tickets.

The rock singer is well known as a gay rights activist.

Two men with signs preached at the crowd as they entered the theater, warning of eternal damnation.

Zachary Humphrey says he's affiliated with a church in Boyd County but preferred not to name which one. He says any concert that doesn't uplift Christianity should not be attended.

"If the person was a drunkard, I think it would be unwise," Humphrey said. "If they were an adulterer, if they were a liar or a thief, then I would feel the same way, so it's not personally homosexuality we have a problem with. It's one of the many things that damns the soul."

He says taking in that type of entertainment is unhealthy spiritually.

"A concert that hardens you in sin, to me, is not beneficial," Humphrey said. "It's nothing against her personally, but I just think it's a good opportunity to tell those that are here to think about their life and think about their eternal choices."

Some of the people who attended say they disagree with the men's method.

"They are sinning worse than anybody could sin, because they are playing God," Etheridge fan Vanessa Daniels said. "There's only one God. He made each and every one of us, and he judges."

"It's ridiculous that these protesters are out here telling us where we're going to go because we're at a Melissa Etheridge concert," Keri Finley Bevis said.

One of the men who was preaching says they have someone at the corner outside the theater every weekend April through December whether there's a performance there or not.

A Paramount employee says they do not recall that group ever showing up prior to a concert before.