Rural Ohio community under assault; hundreds of screenshots, videos depict anti-LGBTQ+ attacks

Story by the Buckeye Flame used by permission

Editor’s Note: request from Outlook reader to post this story.

BY H.L. COMERIATO (THEY/THEM) & KEN SCHNECK (HE/HIM), EDITOR

(8-22-23) For months, organizers in Celina have faced an onslaught of harassment and threats from anti-LGBTQ Christian and white-supremacist groups.

On June 24, LGBTQ+ organizers and Small Town Pride attendees posed for a group photo outside the Mercer County Courthouse in Celina, Ohio.

This year’s celebration— the rural community’s fourth — was a big win for LGBTQ+ joy and visibility in more conservative parts of the state. But behind the scenes, Pride organizers in this west-central Ohio town have faced threats of violence, intimidation and online harassment for months, mostly from white supremacists and anti-LGBTQ+ Christians.

In August, The Buckeye Flame obtained hundreds of screenshots from private Facebook groups detailing violent anti-LGBTQ+ language and behavior, including dozens of posts, comments and private messages, along with video footage recorded during Celina’s 2023 Small Town Pride event.

The footage and screenshots include threats of physical violence and doxxing, praise for white supremacist ideologies, extensive quotations of biblical verse and repeated and unfounded allegations of child abuse and pedophilia.

In response, Ohio-based LGBTQ+ organizations issued a statement condemning the ongoing harassment — and noting its place in a much larger and more dangerous trend:

“What is happening in Celina is part of an epidemic of anti-LGBTQ+ violence, especially anti-trans violence, in this country. We must acknowledge it as such.”

Hateful rhetoric, harassing kids

In 2023 alone, more than 530 pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation have been introduced across the country, fueling a massive uptick of anti-LGBTQ+ violence.

In Ohio, a growing number of designated hate groups like the Proud Boys are gaining members and establishing chapters across the state, according to reports from The Southern Poverty Law Center. Their tracker indicate number of designated hate groups in Ohio grew from 31 in 2017 to 55 in 2023.

Since March, white nationalist, white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups have showed up and disrupted LGBTQ+ events in Ohio on at least four separate occasions—including Celina’s Small Town Pride—intimidating LGBTQ+ people with threats of violence.

In video footage recorded at Celina’s 2023 Small Town Pride by a person using the name Guy Roberts, self-identified members of the Aryan Freedom Network appeared alongside a separate group of protestors that included Ohio State Rep. Angie King (R-Celina).

In photos and video footage, King wore a bright red shirt, joining a handful of self-identified Christian demonstrators outside the perimeter of the public, outdoor event.

Just a few feet away from King, one demonstrator repeatedly used anti-LGBTQ+ slurs to describe people attending the event. In the background, several demonstrators can be heard chanting, “You’re going to burn in hell.”

Roberts — who said he is not part of King’s self-identified Christian group — spoke with law enforcement officers about the event’s established perimeter. After an officer confirmed that he would not be immediately detained upon entering the event, Roberts separated from the group, skirting the perimeter of the festival and shouting anti-LGBTQ+ slurs.

In the footage, he holds the same sign as Christian demonstrators accompanying King. It reads “Let kids be kids” — a reference to unfounded allegations of child grooming and abuse within LGBTQ+ communities.

Once inside the event — which featured vendors, live entertainment and family activities like chalk art and face painting — Roberts yelled directly at attendees, accusing them of child abuse.

“Everybody here should be arrested for child grooming,” Roberts said. “Fxxxxxxx sickening.”

“It would be great if the cops just left and let us have our way with them,” he added.

During the incident, Roberts captured dozens of children and minors on video throughout the duration of the event, using anti-LGBTQ+ slurs, including “queer boy” and “fairy” to describe children and young adults.

Queer organizers like Small Town Pride founder Kyle Bruce have also faced near-constant online harassment via social media, from Roberts and others — including Shawn Meyer, who uses the online pseudonym “Hanz Meier.”

Meyer — a self-identified Christian — appears to operate several anti-LGBTQ+ Facebook groups.

“Ultimately, not even the Pride group, not even the drag queens, they’re not ultimately our enemies,” he said in a video posted to Facebook and obtained by The Buckeye Flame. “They are enslaved by the enemy of all of us, which is the devil.”

In the video, Meyer wore a red T-shirt, explaining its Christian symbolism. However, it is not clear if Meyer and King are members of the same Christian group.

On August 19, The Buckeye Flame contacted Rep. King regarding both her physical proximity to alleged members of white supremacist groups and her general response to the anti-LGBTQ+ comments captured on video. 

King has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

‘Disheartening, unsafe and scary’

The Buckeye Flame has heard from multiple LGBTQ+ Celina residents who shared their experiences facing this anti-LGBTQ+ harassment. All of them provided statements on the condition of anonymity due to their fears of retaliation in their small community. 

One resident and vendor at Small Town Pride described the trauma of growing up in Celina hiding their sexual orientation and moving away to larger cities find acceptance. Now back in Celina after 25 years away, those adolescent traumas have returned. 

“Since moving back, I’ve tried not to draw attention to my being gay, and I’ve generally felt safe, up until these groups decided to start harassing and doxxing the local LGBTQ+ community in the name of religion and the false guise of ‘protecting the children.’ Because of this, my old traumas and fears have painfully resurfaced, and I find myself withdrawing back into isolation, fearing for my safety, and possibly worst of all, staying on constant alert for harassment in public and online.”

They further decried their local representatives’ standing amidst these hate groups, highlighting that this behavior stands in the way of LGBTQ+ residents’ desire to live their authentic lives. 

“We just want to be left to lead our lives in peace and loving kindness, not live in fear without representation or support for our community.”

Another lifelong resident of Mercer County said they have personally been the target of this harassment and have witnessed others suffer similar anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination “without repercussion, and often with encouragement from, our city officials and state representative.” They urged others to step up and speak out against the violent actions. 

“As allies, it is imperative that now, more than ever, we use our voices to help speak out against this anti LGBTQ+ rhetoric.”

A third Celina resident highlighted that there is “more good than bad” in the community, but that a small group of vocal residents—including public officials and church representatives—have created an anti-LGBTQ+ climate that is “disheartening, unsafe and scary.”

“This is not a discussion we can agree to disagree on, as LGBTQ+ community civil rights are being violated. I expect local and government officials to be for the people. All people. Not just people who act and believe as they do.”

‘No one deserves violence’

Over the last four decades, Mercer County has become a politically conservative stronghold — including for white supremacists.

In July, Celina residents found flyers bearing the image of a confederate flag, advertising an event hosted by the Ku Klux Klan. According to reporting by local television station WHIO, law enforcement called the incident “someone’s idea of a joke.”

With no major LGBTQ+ organizations in Mercer County, Celina-area residents reached out to their local representatives, media and regional LGBTQ+ equality organizations for support. 

In response, The Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization (BRAVO) and its parent organization Equitas Health issued a joint statement condemning the ongoing harassment:

“What is happening in Celina is part of an epidemic of anti-LGBTQ+ violence, especially anti-trans violence, in this country. We must acknowledge it as such. The situation has become so dangerous that the Human Rights Campaign declared a national state of emergency in June 2023 for LGBTQ+ individuals living in and visiting the United States.

“When hate, bias violence, discrimination, harassment, and bullying happen to anyone in our community, it affects everyone in our community. Fearing for our safety harms our mental and physical health. Everyone deserves to feel safe in their communities. No one deserves violence.

“BRAVO and Equitas Health condemn any form of anti-LGBTQ+ or anti-trans violence by any person or group in Ohio. We recognize that the inaction of local officials is allowing anti-LGBTQ+ violence to escalate in Celina. BRAVO stands with Celina’s LGBTQ+ community as they speak out against the violence they are facing, the indifference shown to them and the denial of their right to live without fear.

“Anti-LGBTQ+ violence, including and especially anti-trans violence, affects all of us. It’s going to take all of us to get the justice, love, and freedom we deserve.”