More than one hundred LGBTQ+ leaders and organizations across Ohio have signed an open letter denouncing the City Club of Cleveland following the historic free speech forum’s decision to invite the president of an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group to headline an event early next year.
More than 20 organizations signed the open letter, including the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, HRC Cleveland, the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, Equality Ohio, GLAAD and Plexus LGBT & Allied Chamber of Commerce.
On Jan. 16, the City Club is set to host Aaron Baer, president of Columbus-based anti-LGBTQ+ hate group the Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) in conversation with CEO Dan Moulthrop.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reclassified CCV as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group in 2023, following the publication of Project CAPTAIN – an in-depth report on “growing anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience and its primary manufacturers.”
The decision to host Baer without a panel of different viewpoints or an independent moderator sparked backlash from LGBTQ+ leaders and organizations across the state, who also used the letter to demand a slate of changes to the event to help limit anti-LGBTQ+ language and rhetoric.
Focus on ‘anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience’
The City Club has described the event as focused on CCV’s policy goals, some of which major medical associations and extremism experts have called “anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience.”
Moulthrop defended The City Club’s decision to book Baer, telling The Buckeye Flame that the booking is consistent with the forum’s mission of “convening conversations of consequence that help democracy thrive.”
Moulthrop also confirmed via email that The City Club approached Baer directly as a result of the hate group’s rapidly growing endowment and political influence at the Ohio Statehouse and beyond.
“Given that, we reached out to find out if their leadership might be available,” Moulthop told The Buckeye Flame via email.
Between 2016 and 2020, CCV’s total revenue jumped by more than 150%. By 2024, the hate group’s total annual revenue had surpassed 4.7 million dollars – mostly the result of massive personal and individual donations.
The group’s political influence ballooned, and it became the primary source of political and financial support for Ohio House Bill (HB) 68, which rejects global medical consensus around gender affirming health care and bans most types of health care for transgender minors across the state.
Moulthrop also said he expects Baer to respond directly to CCV’s designation as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group during the forum itself, giving him “a chance to respond.”
However, Baer has already responded to CCV’s classification, calling the SPLC “corrupt” – citing a handful of incidents in which the civil rights group has either issued public apologies or rescinded the status of groups or individuals that appeared on the list.
“At some point I hope the press catches up with the SPLC’s political game and recognize them as the liberal political hacks they are,” he said in a post via the social media site X.
Baer has also called SPLC’s Hate Map “heinous” via posts made to X.
‘We will not be intimidated’
On Dec. 9, CCV senior advancement director Char Bonsignore released a written statement regarding both the letter itself and The City Club’s decision to add a line identifying CCV as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group in the event’s official description.
“Right now, LGBT activists in Ohio are trying to cancel CCV from speaking at the City Club of Cleveland because we believe the truths the Church has taught for more than 2,000 years,” the statement reads. “We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced. Friday, January 16, will be a date that proves Christians in Ohio are not afraid to be bold for our faith!”
Bonsignore called CCV’s status as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group “nothing more than a tactic meant to intimidate Christians and push biblical voices out of public life.”
The written statement also encouraged supporters to pray, buy tickets to attend the Jan. 16 event and make donations to CCV:
“Your gift ensures we remain in a place to defend children, families and the truth of the gospel.”
‘More than a difference of belief’
“The kind of rhetoric CCV has espoused and promoted is not harmless,” the letter reads. “Providing a platform to an organization that stigmatizes LGBTQIA2S+ people contradicts The City Club’s mission as a forum for civic discourse and betrays its foundation of mutual respect.”
“This is more than a difference of belief,” it continues. “Such framing dehumanizes an entire community. We find it deeply troubling that The City Club, a venerable civic institution, would give such a group a prominent platform.”
The letter cites a report by the Williams Institute that illustrates the direct connection between gender affirming health care bans, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and an increased risk of mental illness, self-harm and suicide – particularly among young LGBTQ+ people.
A 2024 report published by The Trevor Project found that more than 90% of transgender and non-binary youth reported negative changes in their mental health as a direct result of anti-transgender debates and laws.
Anti-transgender laws like Ohio’s gender affirming health care ban have been directly linked to a 72% increase in suicide attempts among transgender and non-binary youth in 2024 alone.
Gender affirming health care has been found to decrease depression and suicidality among trans youth, and is associated with better health outcomes into adulthood.
“These data clearly show that public discourse about LGBTQIA2S+ identities is not just philosophical; it is a matter of life and death,” the letter reads. “Free speech does not obligate institutions to give a microphone to prejudice.”
List of suggested changes
The letter also petitions The City Club to “reconsider the Forum as it currently stands,” by adding Baer to a panel that includes “an organization of equivalent political scale and influence – one that also shapes democracy through lobbying, legal advocacy, and policy engagement.”
The group included a list of suitable counterparts, including the ACLU of Ohio, GLAAD, the Transgender Law Center and the Human Rights Campaign.
“A restructuring of the panel to foster an intersectional, expert-driven discussion is imperative,” the letter reads. “An updated forum must include affirming LGBTQIA2S+ leaders, civil rights advocates, and mental health experts who can challenge misinformation in real time and ground the conversation in fact, legal precedent, and community realities.”
Additionally, the group encouraged the use of an outside moderator, suggesting a civil rights attorney, a community-based expert or a legal scholar or political science professor that specializes in democratic institutions, public policy or anti-extremism.
The group said appointing a moderator with a background in extremism, law or political science will help ensure the panel is “fair, evidence-based, and free from undue political influence.”
Finally, the group used the letter to urge The City Club of Cleveland to clarify that it does not endorse anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups or anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech via a formal public statement.
“The goal is not false equivalence,” the letter reads. “It is to prevent extremism from going unchallenged, safeguard the integrity of public discourse, and model constructive civic engagement rooted in facts, law, and respect.”
The City Club Responds
In response to LGBTQ+ leaders, Moulthrop acknowledged receipt of the open letter via email.
Moulthrop said the letter will be shared with The City Club’s board of directors, and that members will meet on Wednesday to discuss it.
“Thank you for sending this and thank you for your deep engagement and leadership,” Moulthrop said via email.
In 2018, The City Club hosted a conversation with Ryan Lenz, Senior Investigative Reporter for SPLC’s Intelligence Project, and Antony McAleer, a former neo-Nazi and co-founder of Life After Hate, discussing the complexities of hate.
The Buckeye Flame could not find evidence that The City Club has previously hosted active members of a hate group via its searchable online archives, which date back to 1963 and cover roughly half of the forum’s 113 history. 🔥
Editor’s Note: This piece has been updated to include the open letter in full.
IGNITE ACTION
- The City Club of Cleveland will host Aaron Baer of the Center for Christian Virtue on Friday, January 16 at 11:30 a.m. To buy tickets, click here.
- To submit a question for Baer, text The City Club at 330-541-5794.
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