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 this be a call for help in the future,” he continued.

Mike Cope for Lebanon City Council / Facebook

In the same post, he called for Ohio’s Senate and Gov. Mike DeWine to pass HB 249, which would ban drag performances from taking place anywhere but an “adult cabaret.”

By passing the bill, “we could keep lewd drag shows, such as being performed today, away from minors and public family settings,” Cope said.

The Buckeye Flame sent Cope a list of questions. In his response, he said he would “note a few inaccurate items in the questions below,” but he did not answer any questions related to why he was at Lebanon Pride, why he recorded a video on his cellphone, nor how his “call for help” would affect his support for an individual’s freedom of speech.

“I love and respect everyone, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with everyone about everything,” Cope told the Flame.

Ohio’s indecency laws already address lewd performances. Cope did not provide any evidence of a lewd drag performance.

Organizers want to put on a Pride festival, ‘fight with City Council’

Lebanon Pride has worked with the city in the past to ensure a “Lebanon-friendly” celebration, Reynolds and co-organizer Leslie Nahigyan said. The city manager and city attorney usually attend Pride, although this year they did not see the attorney.

“The city manager was there for a short time this year,” Nahigyan said. “The city’s been wonderful to work with, and we appreciate their partnership.”

Reynolds emphasized that Lebanon Pride is not like Cincinnati Pride. The only change they were requested to make was to not have drag performers take dollar bills from kids, he said. To accommodate, they have volunteers walk with a tip jar to give to the performers afterward.

“Lebanon Pride has decidedly made choices to have an event that’s ‘Lebanon appropriate,’” Reynolds said. “Our job is to service the people who come to our festival, not to fight with City Council – that’s kind of a waste of everybody’s time and money.”

Cope’s post also poses a safety risk, Nahigyan said. She is responsible for the festival’s safety plan. Though she said detractors are welcome to experience the festival (and there’s a dedicated protest space), this kind of messaging from a council person could lead to some people ignoring the “hard work and all the love from our people” or even emboldening groups that could harm the community.

“It is, in my mind, akin to some sort of militia call-out, and I don’t think that bodes well for anyone’s safety,” she said.

Reynolds added that LGBTQ+ attendees are comfortable being positive and affirming at a Pride celebration, which Cope’s callout could jeopardize. Attendees might “water down” and “not attend.”

“Anybody you don’t know personally could be somebody looking to misconstrue facts and manipulate the way images are taken and doing things with a malicious intent,” he said.

A “community response” via public comment is planned for Lebanon City Council’s next regular meeting starting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 11, at Lebanon Town Hall, 50 South Broadway St.

IGNITE ACTION

• Lebanon City Council’s next regular meeting starts at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 11 at Lebanon Town Hall, 50 South Broadway St. To watch a livestream of the meeting, click here.
• To contact members of Lebanon City Council, visit the city’s website here.
• To learn more about Lebanon Pride, visit its website here.
• To find the last Pride celebrations of 2026, check out The Buckeye Flame’s 2026 Pride Guide.