WASHINGTON (AP) – A gay couple featured without their permission in an Internet advertisement criticizing the AARP sued the ad’s producer, alleging libel and invasion of privacy.

The ad was produced by USA Next, a conservative group that supports creating personal accounts within Social Security and has aggressively criticized the AARP, which disagrees about the accounts.

The ad showed a photo of a soldier with a red X over him and, next to it, a photo of two men in tuxedos kissing each other, with a green check mark over them.

The text below read, “The REAL AARP Agenda.” When viewers clicked on the ad, which ran on the American Spectator website, it took them to the USA Next home page.

The men in the tuxedos were Richard M. Raymen and Steven P. Hansen of Portland, Ore., who are furious that a photo of them was used to promote a conservative agenda.

“Richard Raymen and Steven Hansen did not consent to serve as models for a homophobic and mean-spirited campaign for a political group with whose views they strongly disagree,” according to the complaint in U.S. District Court in Washington.

The lawsuit seeks $25 million in damages.

The ad was meant to demonstrate that AARP is out of touch with Americans, said Charlie Jarvis, chair of USA Next. He said that AARP supports same-sex marriage, citing a position taken by an Ohio chapter, and said AARP has not worked to support veterans.

U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton heard arguments on a motion seeking a temporary restraining order preventing the group from using the photo. He did not make an immediate ruling.

The plaintiffs argue that the juxtaposition of their photo with the crossed-out photo of a soldier suggests they are “unpatriotic American citizens who do not support the United States military while our nation is at war.”

The photo in question was taken by the Portland (Ore.) Tribune on March 3, 2004, the day Multnomah Country began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Those marriages are now in legal limbo.

A consultant hired by USA Next, Mark Montini, took the photo from the Portland Tribune’s website. He said that “it looks like we made a mistake” in not first getting permission from the Tribune.

“At the end of the day the worst case scenario was something fell through the cracks in our office,” he said in an interview. Asked if he felt badly about using the photos of people who did not agree with his group’s agenda, he said: “They were posing for pictures in the newspaper. Nobody would know about this if they hadn’t made a big deal about it.”

Jarvis said he believed the rights to the photograph had been obtained properly when he put up the ad. He also accused the plaintiffs of using the advertisement to try and raise money for the Democratic National Committee.