Moms for Liberty allege story-hour protestors intimidated guests
Two local groups, Brecksville Broadview Heights Pride and the Cuyahoga County chapter of Moms for Liberty, are relating fundamentally different accounts of what transpired at the Brecksville Library on Aug. 16.
In a Aug. 19 statement before the Brecksville City Council, Brecksville resident Hillary Jackson, chair of the Cuyahoga County Chapter of Moms for Liberty, alleged several members of the BBH Pride organization attended and protested during a national “See You at the Library” event that her chapter hosted at the library. As part of that event, Apoorva Ramaswamy, the wife of Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and Northeast Ohio conservative radio and podcast host Bob Frantz, were the guests of honor selected to read books to the children and adults in attendance.
“What should have been a joyful, family centered story hour, was disrupted by an organized protest led by BBH Pride,” Jackson told council Aug. 19. “The behavior that took place that day was unacceptable by any standard. Protestors positioned themselves at the door to our rented space and entered the event where they staged a sit-in and surrounded our guests.”
Jackson alleged some of the protestors not only sat with their backs turned to Ramaswamy and Frantz as they were reading, but also could be seen reading banned books and pro-LGBTQ+ books of their own for guests, including children, to see. One such book, members of Moms for Liberty pointed out, was entitled Heather Has Two Mommies.
Jackson also said some of the BBH Pride protestors blocked crowded hallways in the library, wore LGBTQ+ attire and anti-fascism T-shirts, and held up signs with wording she says intimidated guests as they were entering the meeting room where the event was held.
“They deliberately disrupted and created an atmosphere of intimidation,” Jackson told council. “Families felt uncomfortable, children felt unsafe and this was all allowed to happen in a taxpayer-funded building that should have been neutral ground. … This was not a civil disagreement. This was a targeted disruption of children’s story time.”
In response to Jackson’s testimony, Brecksville Council President Dominic Caruso said the Aug. 16 incident was brought to council’s attention after the fact.
“Thank you for making us aware of what took place and how it took place,” he said to Jackson on Aug. 19.
Mayor Daryl Kingston echoed Caruso’s sentiments that evening, noting that the city’s community center frequently hosts meetings for various political organizations and this is the first time he’s heard of any unfavorable action on behalf of one of the parties involved.
“Civil discourse is something our society has lost and, unfortunately, Brecksville is not immune,” he said. “I feel terrible for these children. I would feel terrible no matter whose children were sitting in that room. It really disheartens me.”
A few weeks later, during the council’s Sept. 2 public comment period, Broadview Heights resident Marissa Miragliotta, who serves as community outreach chair for BBH Pride, said she and several other board members of BBH Pride were taken aback to learn of the narrative Jackson painted when she addressed Brecksville City Council on Aug. 19.
“We are disappointed to hear that our city leadership blindly believed falsehoods and the untrue, villainizing narrative spread by Hillary Jackson and Moms for Liberty.
She assured Kingston and council that the library event was never advertised as an official BBH Pride event; however, she said members are encouraged to exercise their right to free speech whenever possible.
“We are registered as an advocacy group, not an activist group,” Miragliotta said. “LGBTQ+ residents, our supporters and even our board members are free to exercise their constitutional right to protest without our organization being inextricably tied.”
By the organization’s account, Miragliotta said, BBH Pride’s role in the library event was “a peaceful, sit-in protest.” She said the organization received a total of four separate requests for BBH Pride members to attend the event to protest, but said the organization declined all those requests as BBH Pride does not participate in organized protests.
Jennifer Speer, president and founder of BBH Pride, was unable to attend the Sept. 2 meeting but had a statement read on her behalf. She contends that protestors were never asked by library staff or by members of Moms for Liberty to leave the library or the meeting room where the event took place.
“The day came and went with zero conflict,” Speer said in her statement. “Still, not one council member or the mayor reached out to anybody on our board for clarification or to hear our perspective and we are profoundly disappointed.”