Freedom's Gate: Fund Me America

Conservatives and libertarians across the nation are battling a litany of issues that tear at the fabric of the U.S. Constitution’s protections and guaranteed rights. Fund Me America, a crowd-funding website designed to provide financial and moral support for those on the front lines of conservative and libertarian causes may be the answer for those under attack.

Mark Ogden, the organization’s co-founder, explained the group’s goals on the Communities Digital News Hour’s "Standing at Freedom’s Gate" podcast.

Ogden provided one distinct example of how the group’s funding efforts are making a difference for Iowans Dick and Betty Odgaard. They owned a beautiful wedding venue that had been transformed from a remodeled stone church. The dream was dashed, according to Ogden, when a lesbian couple sued the Odagaards because they would not marry the couple based upon their Christian faith.

In defiance of an Iowa state law that protected traditional marriage between a man and a woman, the state’s top court ruled that same-sex marriage would be legal in Iowa. In 2013, another gay couple was turned down by the Odagaards. The couple filed suit through the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and that action unleashed “an unbelievable firestorm of hate from the gay community and their supporters, unmanageable phone calls, emails and Facebook posts resulted in their business suffering significantly.”

With the assistance of Fund Me America, the Odagaards are raising financial support and public awareness to turn personal loss into a way to educate America.