Alexander said that he supports a same-sex marriage ban but that his political views had nothing to do with the placement of the billboard.

“Someone offered me some money to put the sign up,” Alexander said. “It helps me pay my property taxes.”

Martha Carmichael, who is second-in-command of Madison County Democrats, said that the billboard is “tacky.”

“You’ve got to remember that Terri represents everyone,” said Carmichael. “When you’re elected, you don’t just say, ‘Well, I’m going to represent a certain group.’ I suggest that (the AFA) stays in Missouri.”

Austin’s colleague, State Rep. Jack Lutz, R-District 35, said that the AFA has the right to protest Austin, just as she has the right to vote how she wants. Lutz said that he supports the bill, simply because it would allow citizens to vote on the same-sex marriage issue.

“The only thing I’m asking is to give the electorate the right to vote on it,” he said.

Lutz said his constituents support a same-sex marriage ban.

“Most of my constituents, as far as the e-mail I get, would be in favor of it,” said Lutz, who believes marriage should be exclusively between a man and a woman.

Lutz said that when the bill was passed to the House from the Senate, it went straight to the rules committee, which usually signals that a bill will not make it to the House floor. “You can kiss that puppy good-bye,” he said.

State Sen. Timothy Lanane, D-District 25, said the billboard misrepresents Austin’s vote.

“She had the same problem with the bill that many people did,” he said. “To say that she doesn’t want to protect marriage is ridiculous.”

Clark’s group has not done a survey of Madison County residents to gauge their opinion of a same-sex marriage ban. But, Clark said, the AFA has received “a lot of contact” from people disappointed that there is no ban.

AFA members oppose same-sex marriage because, they say, it disrupts the traditional family. The group believes that homosexual couples, because they deny a child the influence of two genders, provide an inferior upbringing; they “devalue” the family unit.

“A homosexual couple is making a conscientious decision to deprive a child of a gender,” said Clark. “When you de-value the family, society suffers.”

When asked if there was a difference between a gay couple raising a child, and a single parent raising a child — because both situations would rule out the parental influence of two genders — Clark said that a single-parent home, at least, has the possibility of bringing another gender into the family.