A representative from a Seattle-based anti-LGBTQ+ hate group faced pushback from residents in rural Ohio after their billboards attacked nontraditional marriages, including same-sex parents.
Last week, Facebook posts highlighted a billboard in Lima in Northwest Ohio that reads, “No child has two dads. No child has two moms,” with the “two dads” and “two moms” in rainbow lettering. Posts went viral online and caught the attention of Have A Gay Day, a Dayton LGBTQ+ nonprofit organization, resource center and meme page. Founder Michael Knote responded to the billboards by raising nearly $20,000 to buy advertising space affirming same-sex parents. Many of these billboards have already been installed.
Megan Tucker-Manly, whose post about the billboards went viral, spoke against the billboards during Lima’s City Council meeting on Monday.
“Lima has come together to say, ‘We don’t want this hate speech here,’” she said.
‘I don’t think their idea took hold at all’
The pushback didn’t stay online. A rally was held an hour before a City Council meeting, organized by Jeff Givan, founder of LGBTQ-advocacy organization Lima Pride Alliance and Democratic candidate to unseat Ohio Rep. Matt Huffman (R-Lima), the state’s speaker of the House.
Around 40 people showed up to support Tucker-Manly speaking and to demonstrate against the billboards, he said. Demonstrators, some of whom drove three hours to join, held signs and waved LGBTQ+ flags.
Drivers waved and honked at the protestors in solidarity, Givan said. He didn’t see anything negative — which surprised him.
Although the anti-LGBTQ+ billboards have been spotted all over Ohio, Lima, a Republican stronghold, was the only city with “serious pushback” to the billboards, Givan said.
“Lima is not normally like this,” he said. “I don’t think their idea took hold at all.”
‘Not the Lima I remember’
Tucker-Manly spoke of her experience as a social worker and how the billboard’s language affects victims of domestic abuse and their children.
She used an example of a domestic abuse situation, how a child might view the world and how it could lead to self-harm.
“This ad was worded to trigger people, and it has triggered people across party lines,” Tucker-Manly said. “I want us to look with a discerning eye at what free speech allows and the cost when it goes unchecked.”
The billboard displays are “simply a statement of biological reality,” said Nicholas Spencer, legislative policy consultant for Them Before Us and a fellowship director for Ohio-based anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Center for Christian Virtue.
The display is not a religious statement nor a political statement, “though it has obvious political implications,” he said. Spencer later advocates for political change while claiming how children are hurt through nontraditional marriages without evidence.
“For too long, this nation and its marriage and parental laws have prioritized the emotional and sexual desires of adults at the expense of a child’s rights,” Spencer said. “It is time for that to end.”
During his public comment, Spencer said – without evidence – children “report an intense longing for the love and care of their biological parents.”
A 2016 study found that children with LGBTQ+ adoptive parents develop “positive perceptions of their family and navigate experiences of difference with resilience.”
‘I need no one to tell me what a parent looks like’
Spencer’s comments were met with a booing audience and pushback from council members.
Tony Wilkerson, a council member, said the billboard targeted him as a stepfather, according to The Lima News. A father is found “in the heart” and doesn’t conform to a dictionary definition, he said.
“I need no one to tell me what a parent looks like; I let my eyes tell me,” Wilkerson told the local newspaper. “If you cannot see that, then you are blind, and may God help you.”
Council President Jamie Dixon was a foster kid who was bullied for being “different,” Dixon said. He was relieved to see Have A Gay Day’s more affirming billboards.
“I do believe in the First Amendment, but I don’t think the freedom of speech should come at the expense of hurting a young kid’s feelings,” Dixon said. 🔥
IGNITE ACTION
- To learn more about Lima Pride Alliance, visit their Facebook page.
- To learn more about Have A Gay Day, visit its website.
- To find Lima City Council meetings and councilors’ contact information, visit the council’s website.
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