Standing on the steps of the Willson School, two young boys stood before hundreds of people and chanted: "Up with love! Down with hate!"

Their chants began softly then grew louder, encouraged as voices from the crowd joined in. The voices joined together and swelled, the sound penetrating the chilly November air.

The group had gathered on the campus of Montana State University Sunday and marched down Eighth Avenue and Main Street to the school, pushing strollers, walking dogs and toting handmade signs that read "No bigots in Big Sky" and "Creativity = Diversity." They wanted their message to be known - that Bozeman is a place that does not tolerate hate.

The "Hate Free Bozone" march and rally was organized by citizens concerned by recent activities of the Creativity Movement, a group that held a "pro-white" demonstration in front of the Gallatin County Courthouse in October.

Travis McAdams of the Montana Human Rights Task Force, one of the speakers at Sunday's rally, pointed out that while only eight people had gathered for the Creativity Movement rally, hundreds had turned out for the "Hate Free Bozone" march and rally.

McAdams was one of several speakers and performers at the rally. Local government officials, church leaders, MSU students and others spoke out at the event.

"We are a community that respects the human dignity of all people," Bozeman Mayor Kaaren Jacobson said. "We are not a community that crushes the human spirit."

Her service dog Sampson by her side, the Rev. Denise Rogers of Montana Hate Free Zone said groups like the Creativity Movement hide behind a wall of religion.

"We want to make it clear that Christianity is not based on hate, it is based on love," she said. "If you are a different color it is because God is creative."

Rabbi Ed of the Temple Beth Shalom in Bozeman likened those who promote hatred to the pine beetle that infests and kills trees in the area.

"Pests arise from time to time. Pests can only thrive when we are weak," he said.

MSU student Ivy English said, in a way, she was grateful to the members of the Creativity Movement.

"It was there hateful ideas that brought us together," she said.

While the day was one of celebration, observing their diversity and unity, those who gathered were left with the message that their work is not finished. Instead, it is just beginning.

"This is not the finish line, it's the starting line," McAdams told the crowd. "If everybody here treats this as a start point, not an endpoint, it sends a message."