The Westboro Baptist Church waves posters that read "God Hates Fags" and pickets U.S. military and celebrity funerals. Well God, or at least the satirical comedian who acts as God on Facebook, has had "enough of this madness."
The person behind God, who keeps his or her identity anonymous, launched an Indiegoog campaign called the GOD LOVES GAYS Billboard Project on Aug. 9. The project set a fundraising goal of $50,000 and in less than a month, has surpassed it to raise nearly $80,000. Most people donated between $1 and $10.
"For far too long, nasty humans have made God sound like a bigoted jerk," God told Mashable in an email. The website confirmed the ownership of His social media accounts. "When really, nothing could be further from the truth. I'm super loving!"
The billboard went up in Topeka, Kansas, home to the Westboro Baptist Church, on Sept. 8. Lamar Advertising owns the billboard space and would only allow God to rent the billboard until March 2015 until the company can see if the community "accepts it and likes it first," according to God.
"We support the First Amendment right of advertisers and believe that it is in the best interest of our company and the communities we serve to accept advertising copy openly," a spokesperson for Lamar told Mashable. "We do not accept or reject copy based upon agreement or disagreement with the views presented. We are firmly committed to our copy acceptance policy."
God's followers gave him the idea for the billboard. It was the top suggestion on Facebook with over 1,000 likes. Additional funds raised by the campaign will go toward buying bus ads, donations to an LGBT suicide prevention organization and the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
The WBC did respond to the billboard on their Twitter, which is frequently and currently suspended. "We can deal with lies & taunts! #TagEm," the church tweeted, according to Mashable. It attached a Photoshopped image of the billboard with the word "hates" plastered over the word "loves."
