The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is promoting two anti-gay marriage billboards in Tennessee.

NOM is the nation's most vociferous opponent of gay marriage. The group played a critical role in repealing gay marriage laws in California and Maine.

At its blog, the group is promoting the efforts of an unnamed grassroots group from Cookeville, Tennessee, which has erected two billboards denouncing gay marriage.

Each billboard includes the words “Man + Woman = Marriage God's Way; Genesis 2:24” accompanied by a photograph of a young man and woman.

The King James version of the Biblical passage quoted talks about a man leaving his family: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.”

One billboard appeared in September and the second in October.

“I just thought this billboard was a marvelous idea,” Lois Irby said. “You hear so much about same-sex marriage on TV, and it's so readily accepted by the public. Children, unless they have some kind of religious training at home, are taught to accept it and not question it or feel that it's wrong. I think God's word needs to be inserted as often as possible to reaffirm that homosexuality is wrong. It doesn't need to be presented in a glorified light.”

Roland Advertising produced the billboards and its owner has offered to put up another billboard free of charge.

“We are glad to participate in this project because of our belief in marriage God's way,” Dave Roland, owner of Roland Advertising, said. “Our conservative values are under attack every day, and outdoor advertising is one way we can speak to the masses for very little cost. We want to make sure our messages are positive and promote the right things. We believe this message is one of them.”

“Our hope is that God-fearing people will be encouraged by these 'marriage God's way' billboards in Cookeville, Tenn.,” Kerry Duke, a supporter of the effort and dean of the Tennessee Bible College, said. “On a bigger scale, we hope people from other parts of the nation who drive by these signs will go home and put up similar ones. Our dream is that it will grow into a nationwide effort.”