A prominent civil rights organization is demanding that a Virginia legislator’s nonprofit advocacy group stop using a gay couple’s private engagement photo in campaign literature opposing same-sex marriage, writes The Washington Post.

Public Advocate of the United States, an 501(c)(4) group led by Loudoun County, Va., Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio, featured an altered version of the shot of a New Jersey couple kissing in a mailer targeting a Colorado state lawmaker who backed civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which has labeled Public Advocate an anti-gay “hate group,” said it is exploring legal action over the unauthorized use of the photo, which a center official called “morally reprehensible.” Tom Privitere, one of the men in the pictures, said he was “shocked” to discover its use in the flier.

Mr. Delgaudio would not comment on the group’s use of the image but said in a statement that he is “looking into this.”