A billboard recently put up at Kent Bridge Rd. and Countryview Line with and offensive message to the gay community. Aug. 23, 2018. (Photo by Greg Higgins)

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The 81-year-old Petrolia man who paid to have a controversial billboard put up on Kent Bridge Rd. north of Chatham says he “loves homosexuals”, but not the “path that they are on.”

Ralph Baker, whose phone number is listed on the billboard, says his phone has been ringing almost non-stop since the message was posted Wednesday.

“We’re getting both sides — it’s not just the people who are in favour of homosexuality — also those that are in favour [of the message] and are encouraging,” Baker told Blackburn News Friday morning. “Last night, we were getting phone calls in the middle of the night and I answer the phone and there’s nobody there… it’s just an act of bothering people… I understand that.”

When asked about how he settled on the timing and the location for the billboard, Baker responded, “I think it’s well worth putting up at this time because even now is too late,” adding “it seemed like the ideal place to put up a sign in southwestern Ontario with God’s message.”

The long-time Petrolia-area farmer says another key factor in his decision to post the sign is his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“Those children are a big concern of mine and because what is being done in school and in churches, I’m sorry to say, is detrimental to their decision-making,” says Baker.

According to Baker, the billboard is also just one of a few that he has paid to have put up across the region — including one that he says is up on Churchill Rd. in the Petrolia-area.

In response to widespread criticism about the homophobic views expressed on the billboard, Baker also clarified that he makes a clear distinction between homosexuals and homosexuality.

“That temptation — people are able to deal with it and handle it and refuse it… same as murder, same as robbery… they are fulfilling a temptation and it has captured them,” says Baker. “We will counsel the homosexuality (sic), get them born again and give them peace with God.”

And in response to claims that the message is hate speech, Baker says ultimately, his message comes from a higher authority.

“This is scripture and if they’re calling me hate literature (sic) or people that put up the sign hate people, then they are calling God a hate person,” says Baker. “These messages come straight from God, not me, God.”