A Christian husband-wife team in Iowa who turned down a recent request from a gay couple to hold a wedding ceremony at their Gortz Haus Gallery business has now been subjected to harassment, threats and vulgar emails, as well as being targeted in a state Human Rights Commission complaint.
“To us, [marriage] is a sacrament … between a man and woman,” Betty Odgaard told Life Site News. That’s why she and her husband, Dick, rejected a gay couple who requested to use their Grimes, Iowa, art and flower shop as a place to marry.
The Odgaards said they told the gay couple they would serve them “in any other way,” outside of allowing them to trade wedding vows at their business location. But the gay couple filed a complaint with the state and Odgaards have since received vulgar and threatening emails and voice messages, Life Site News reported.
“[Expletive] you, your God … your religion,” one message said. “You are mean, rude, selfish, mother [expletive] sons of [expletive] from hell.”
The Odgaards have also suffered financial loss from the negative publicity. The location served as a Lutheran church for nearly 65 years and is a popular destination for couples tying the knot, but other couples have cancelled ceremonies amid the dust-up, according to Life Site News.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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