Iowans plan 1,000 anti-gay ‘marriage’ billboards

GRIMES, Iowa — After months of controversy, the Gortz Haus closed its doors in late July in the wake of declining revenue — first, for its refusal to host gay weddings, then for discontinuing its wedding business altogether. A Des Moines couple filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission in 2013 because owners Richard and Betty Odgaard refused to let them rent the venue for a same-sex ceremony. In a settlement last year, the Odgaards agreed to pay the couple $5,000 and to not discriminate against same-sex couples. They did that by choosing not to offer wedding services to anyone — straight or gay — a decision the Odgaards said caused the business to fold.

But the Odgaards have no plans to put aside their campaign against same-sex “marriage.” The Odgaards say they plan to erect 1,000 billboards advertising their belief in upholding “traditional” marriage between one man and one woman. The first billboard, a 14-foot by 48-foot black-and-white sign, went up outside of Durant, Oklahoma, in late July.

(RNS)