The City Club of Cleveland – one of the oldest free speech forums in the country – invited the president of a designated anti-LGBTQ+ hate group to event headlinesparking outrage from the LGBTQ+ community in Ohio.
On January 16, Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue (CCV), will take to the venerated stage of the City Club — the same stage that famously hosted Franklin D. Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Barack Obama and Robert F. Kennedy.About the thoughtless threat of violence” speech delivered the day after the assassination of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
Baer does not appear as a panel member with opposing views, but instead receives the entire stage along with the moderator. There will be a question and answer section in which participants and listeners will be able to ask questions.
CCV first appeared on the Southern Poverty Law Center (SLPC) list of anti-LGBTQ+ people. hate groups in 2015 and 2017while the group continued to operate under the name Citizens for Community Values.
In 2023 – after a six-year absence from the list – CCV was reclassified as an anti-LGBTQ+ group after the SPLC published CAPTAIN projectdetailed report on “the growing anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience and its principal creators.”
To facilitate with the transition, CCV has formed strategic partnerships with elected officials and other anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups Ohio House Bill (HB) 68the state’s current ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender youth. Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), the bill’s sponsor, repeatedly cited CCV for helping organize the meetings that led to the proposal of HB 68.
A coherent mission
Dan Moulthrop, CEO of City Club and the forum’s listed moderator, said CCV has been in the spotlight of City Club since CCV hosted a forum in 2021 that included all of Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senate candidates. Then, he said, CVV’s legislative work showed that they had “gained a significant amount of influence.”
“As such, we have reached out to see if their leadership would be available,” Moulthop told The Buckeye Flame via email.
Moulthrop said the forum with Baer is consistent with The City Club’s mission to “host meaningful conversations that help advance democracy.”
“Whether you agree with these people or not, the chance to hear directly from them, not just about them in the media or from a researcher, is what makes a democracy work better,” Moulthrop said.
When the forum was posted on the City Club website, the description did not originally mention that CCV was a designated anti-LGBTQ+ hate group. Moulthrop said the description has been updated to include this information after receiving feedback from a community member.
“I would expect that [the SPLC designation] will be raised during the forum and Mr. Baer will have the opportunity to respond to this nomination,” Moulthrop said.
In addition to CCV’s anti-LGBTQ+ activities, Baer regularly posts anti-LGBTQ+ messages on X:
- Baer repeatedly refers to parents who support their transgender children as child abusers, including sending that parents who have moved their families to other states where gender-affirming care is legal are “people so desperate to abuse their children that they will pick them up and move them.”
- Baer repeatedly sent that the only “conversion therapy” taking place in America is the affirmation of transgender children.
- Baer repeatedly misgenders transgender women, calling them “colossi.”
- Baer sent that an LGBTQ+ identity can condemn a person to hell.
- Baer sent that marital quality and trans identity are precursors to a society that approves of pedophilia.
“Really Disturbing”
LGBTQ+ Ohio leaders question City Club’s decision.
Dwayne Steward, Executive Director of Equality, Ohiopraised freedom of speech as a cornerstone of democracy, noting the importance of challenging conversations and respectful debate. “But if your message is rooted in oppression and erasure, it doesn’t leave much room for common ground or shared enlightenment,” Steward said.
Steward points to Baer and CCV’s “long history of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric” and their role in the “avalanche” of anti-transgender legislation that is “directly linked to a 72% increase in suicide rates among transgender and gender non-conforming youth in Ohio,” according to the Trevor Project.
“I hope that any public forum involving Baer that seeks inclusive social dialogue will highlight the harmful impact of his actions and those of his organization,” Steward said.
Phyllis Harris, executive director of Greater Cleveland’s LGBT Community Centerpraised the role the City Club plays in Cleveland’s civic life, but said free speech “should never be used to legitimize rhetoric that undermines the safety, dignity and well-being of citizens [the LGBTQ+] community.”
“Our community plans to directly address Mr. Baer’s comments and ask if he is willing to open his mind to learn more about our community and disavow past statements that are divisive and harmful to LGBTQ+ people,” Harris said.
Maria Bruno, executive director of the nonprofit organization Ohioans against extremismquestioned the format of the forum, given that Baer gets the entire stage, unlike the panels that The City Club often hosts and present different points of view.
“This means that the host brings his own legitimacy and credibility to the speaker’s point of view, especially when the speaker is invited because of his political lobbying,” Bruno said. “It is extremely disturbing that City Club would choose to lend its credibility to an organization best known for pushing extreme legislation and hateful rhetoric.”
Bruno said families have been persecuted and even had to move out of state as a direct result of the laws and rhetoric pushed by CCV.
“We do not need to make more room for lobbyists who already wield disproportionate power over our State House and effectively enshrine Christian nationalism into state law,” Bruno said. “Trust me, in the current situation they have a lot of time to talk to brokers from Ohio. I see no benefits from such an event, in fact a lot of harm. ” 🔥
START ACTION
The Cleveland City Club will host Aaron Baer of the Center for Christian Virtue on Friday, January 16 at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are open to the public and can be found Here. The public can also ask questions about the event by texting 330-541-5794.
