It began with a party at the Kittansett Club and has developed into a near-daily protest against what event planner Chad Michael Peters says is discrimination based on his sexual orientation.

In August, Peters was commissioned by two club members to organize a “risqué” 60th and 70th birthday party. For his part, Peters says he hired drag queens for the party and that the club members who hired him, had also hired male escorts. This was done without his knowledge he said.

In the wake of the party, Peters said he was notified through his business associates that he would not be welcome to volunteer for a charity event at the club.  Peters says this is because he is a gay man. Club representatives have said it is because of Peters does not meet the club’s standards of “professionalism.”

Peters says that club President David Barrett’s refusal to allow him to emcee the charity event as he had planned to do, that triggered the event planner’s ongoing protest against Barrett and the club.

“It was implicit in what they told me that [Barrett] was tired of my gay antics, overt sexuality and that I was not welcome,” Peters said. “They have been slanderous, defaming my name, my business, my family and friends.”

On Monday, February 27, Peters began protesting outside of Barrett’s workplace, Baldwin Brothers Inc, a financial advisory firm located on Barnabas Road. For the rest of the week Peters could be seen outside of the business singing as he waited for Barrett to speak with him directly. As of this writing, Barrett has not done so.

“Barrett wants nothing to do with this, and until he has the balls to say to my face what he has been saying behind my back, I’ll keep standing,” Peters said.

Barrett declined to comment.

On March 1, Kittansett Club representative Elizabeth Isherwood released a statement, which read “The professionalism, conduct and follow through are taken into account to determine whether or not a vendor is welcome to practice their trade on club premises.”

“As a private club, we do not share details about the experiences we have had with vendors with the public. Chad Michael Peters is a local event planner and florist who performed his services at the club for a member in the past. We have expressed our desire to have other vendors considered who are on our preferred list of vendors.”

Peters has been posting daily updates of the conflict on his “Style Blog,” which he says has garnered him a lot of unexpected support from the community and from gay rights groups in New York City.

The first blog post on Monday, February 27 received 14,000 views in two days, he said. To date, his blog has seen 33,000 views over the week.

“Since this started, hundreds of people have come forward with stories of discrimination,” Peters said. “It’s been enlightening. We need people to stand up and say ‘Hold on. You can’t make decisions about my sexuality that shape my business.”

Peters has taken his protest to Barrett’s home in Marion, where he stood outside on public property on Wednesday, February 29, still waiting for a response from Barrett. His parents, Bob and Donna Peters, joined him and offered their support.

“We totally support him,” Bob Peters said. “We’re very proud of our son. Who wouldn’t be? He’s a great person.”

“Just because he’s gay that doesn’t mean they can punish him,” Donna Peters said. “He did what they paid him to do. Go to his website and look at pictures from the party. Everyone was having a good time.”

Peters said that, while the club does have the right to refuse the business of anyone, the charity event was meant to be a public event.  Under state law, it is illegal to discriminate against a person based on his or her sexual orientation.

In the meantime, Peters said he is considering legal action. On Wednesday, March 7 Peters said he was planning to file a civil complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

“I want people to know that it’s OK to be yourself and that they don’t have to be afraid,” he said. “Everyone should be confident of who they are as an individual. It’s not acceptable for [Barrett] to make comments and rules that could affect someone’s livelihood.”