Ohio councilman calls on residents to monitor Pride event for LGBTQ+ ‘indecency’

This story originally appeared on The Buckeye Flame.Lebanon, Ohio, Council Member Mike Cope made a post on Facebook calling on residents of the small suburb between Dayton and Cincinnati to hunt for purported incidents of indecent exposure during the city’s next Pride celebration in 2027.When Lebanon Pride first started, the organization faced an uphill battle to get approved for its second festival. After organizers James Reynolds, Leslie Nahigyan, and the community spoke at public comment two years ago, Lebanon’s Mayor Mark Messer said the festival “met every standard” and “pulled off a very welcome event.”Though during the 2024 meeting Cope said he “stood up for the event,” he no longer seems to support Lebanon Pride. His comments online could impact the well-being of LGBTQ+ residents on what should be a celebratory day, Reynolds said.“The day where people in our community get to feel very safe and welcome in Lebanon would just be jeopardized,” he said. Cope wants residents to surveil a festival but defends ‘freedom of speech’The interaction came after Lebanon Pride posted a screenshot of a video on July 25 that showed Cope standing at the edge of a field and recording a drag performance at this year’s festival. The Facebook post thanked Cope for attending Pride “to experience Lebanon Pride firsthand and spending time with our volunteers and attendees” and asked other council members to attend and experience Pride.Six hours after Lebanon Pride’s post went up, Cope responded. He called the post “laughable if the situation weren’t so disappointing.”“Another year of an event celebrating a lifestyle that does not represent the majority of Lebanon—but at least our city respects everyone’s freedom of speech,” he said. “One action that runs afoul of our existing indecency laws, and I doubt Lebanon Pride would still consider me a welcomed guest.”“The problem is that one or two people cannot monitor an entire day, so let