DETROIT, MI - Anti-gay billboards are popping up across Michigan as Supreme Court justices consider legalizing gay marriage in the U.S.

A billboard at N. Telegraph Road just north of Ford Road in Dearborn Heights states: "Homosexuality is a behavior. Not a civil right." It also suggests people are not born gay, and cites Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:5 in The Bible.

The ads, which are expected to appear in Flint, Lansing and Grand Rapids in the coming days, are drawing fire online Friday as people criticized the group "Restrain the Judges," which paid for the billboards, and Giesken Outdoor Advertising for displaying the ad.

The group behind the billboard is a collection of conservative organizations under the name, "Restrain the Judges." The name refers to the Supreme Court justices expected to rule in June on gay marriage. The federal case, which could overturn gay marriage bans in the U.S., is in part driven by a Michigan gay couple's fight to jointly adopt their children.

Mark Gurley, a spokesman for Restrain the Judges, told WDIV in Detroit that the billboards are not intended to be anti-gay.

"The issue here doesn't have anything to do, at the end of the day, with the gay community," Gurley told WDIV. "It has everything to do with protecting freedom of religion."