Iowa Couple Plans 1,000 Antigay Billboards

Betty and Dick Odgaard, former owners of an antigay wedding venue, have already unveiled their first sign in Oklahoma. They plan on raising money to post more.

After being told they could no longer discriminate against same-sex couples, the owners of Iowa's Gortz Haus Gallery — which features a restaurant, flower shop, and wedding venue — took action. First, Betty and Dick Odgaard stopped offering all weddings so they could avoid marrying same-sex couples (the couple was defended by none other than presidential candidate Ted Cruz, who misrepresented their supposed plight). Then, when their business tanked following a lawsuit by a same-sex couple, they launched a ministry to push their antigay mission.

The Odgaards began God's Original Design Ministry as a 501(c)3 organization, meaning it'sexempt from taxes. The ministry aims to defend "traditional" marriage and plans to place 1,000 similar signs across the nation.

The first billboard, which is 14 feet by 48 feet, went up recently in Durant, Okla. It quotes God as saying marriage is between one man and one woman.

"The primary objective [of] our mission with these billboards is to spark 'drive-time epiphanies,'" Betty Odgaard told The Blaze. "In other words, to remind the faithful of the truth."

