CLEVELAND — Zak Kahn and Eliot Brosch were among the roughly dozen people who were at an LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland happy hour at Cha Spirits and Pizza Kitchen, a restaurant in Cleveland's Gordon Square neighborhood, shortly before 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
A local television station's rush hour traffic report was on the television above the bar as bartenders were serving drinks. Kahn and Brosch were talking about the Republican National Convention and the fact that their city was hosting it.
"The irony is palpable," said Kahn. "This is the bluest county and the bluest city in all of Ohio."
"A lot of people I know are just angry and sad," added Brosch, who identifies as a transgender man.
The LGBT Clevelanders with whom the Washington Blade has spoken this week have mixed reactions about the Republican National Convention.
Austin Boxler, who lives in Gordon Square, said at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland happy hour that the Republican National Committee "picked the Democratic stronghold of Ohio to have their convention."
He told the Blade that he had heard that many Clevelanders decided to leave the city this week because of the road closures around the Quicken Loans Arena in which the convention is taking place and heightened security concerns. Boxler said the streets in downtown Cleveland were "like a Scooby-Doo ghost town" when he drove to work on Monday.
"It's really not that bad," he told the Blade.
Gwen Stembridge of Equality Ohio, a statewide LGBT advocacy group, discussed the convention's potential economic impact on Cleveland.
"I just hope that that is still happening, even though there is tension and even though people are a little worried about going downtown," she said as Boxler and Brian Schultz, another Cleveland resident, listened. "I hope it is an opportunity to bring Clevelanders together."
Kahn, who lives in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood, had a far different view.
The self-described "queer trans person" who was raised by Muslim parents told the Blade that it was "an adventure" getting through downtown. Kahn had also not left their home until Tuesday, noting police are staying at nearby Case Western Reserve University during the convention.
"All of those 1,700 riot officers are right outside my door basically at Case Western," Kahn told the Blade. "That's a bit terrifying to be honest."
Brosch agreed, noting people who live in that area "were mostly afraid."
"A lot of them are gay or trans or disabled or brown or black, any of these groups that are routinely victimized by the police," Brosch told the Blade. "They were angry about that and all of the media around it saying, 'Oh these kids are just so spoiled and weenies for being scared.'"
"A lot of people are sad and angry about that," he added.
Convention 'an exciting time to have policy discussions'
Equality Ohio on Monday organized a panel on LGBT rights that took place at the New West Theatre in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood.
Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples across the country, noted that he and John Arthur, who was suffering from Lou Gehrig's Disease, could not go "six blocks to our county courthouse" in Cincinnati to get married because the Ohio constitution defined marriage as between a man and a woman.
The two men exchanged vows on the tarmac of Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on July 11, 2015. Arthur died less than four months later.
"All we wanted to do was to get married and live out John's final days as husband and husband," said Obergefell. "We decided to fight for each other, for our marriage and for people across our state and our nation."
Equality Ohio Executive Director Alana Jochum noted at the beginning of the panel that Ohio is one of 28 states that does not include sexual orientation and gender identity in its nondiscrimination law.
The Cleveland City Council earlier this month approved Ordinance 1446, which would amend the city's nondiscrimination ordinance to require businesses to allow customers to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity. Jochum noted that 15 cities in Ohio have adopted "fully-inclusive" nondiscrimination ordinances, but they only cover 18.5 percent of the state's population.
"The first question that I ask of a person who experiences discrimination shouldn't have to be, 'Well where do you live?'" she said. "We're working for statewide protections so that everyone everywhere can find redress."
State Rep. Nickie Antonio ( D-Lakewood ), who is the first openly LGBT person elected to the Ohio Legislature, and state Sen. Frank LaRose ( R-Copley ) have both introduced measures in their respective chambers that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's nondiscrimination law.
"Unfortunately Ohio is part of that list of 28 states that don't offer the protections that our LGBTQ brothers and sisters deserve," said LaRose during the panel. "Nikki and I and others have been working to try and change that circumstance in Ohio."
Antonio cited an example of a baker who refused to bake a birthday cake for a same-sex couple's child because of their religious beliefs.
"When we have a situation where it's against someone's belief for us to exist, that is their problem, not my problem," she said.
Antonio and LaRose sat on the panel alongside Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley and Rev. Esther Baruja of the Archwood United Church of Christ in Cleveland. Darius Stubbs and Ginger Marshall, two local trans advocates, also took part.
"I could be Ginger and simply fade into the woodwork," said Marshall. "Having people know that hey we exist is being here for things like this."
Jochum told the Blade after the panel that the Republican National Convention is "an exciting time to have policy discussions."
Rachel Hoff, the first openly gay member of the Republican Party's platform committee, spoke at the beginning of the event. Jochum expressed disappointment over the GOP's continued opposition to marriage rights for same-sex couples and other LGBT-specific issues.
"We're disappointed it looks like the platform is not going to be as inclusive as we would like," she told the Blade. "This is a journey and we are committed to working across all sides of the aisle to get the policies we need put into place."
Trump campaign 'not elaborate performance art'
The LGBT Clevelanders and their allies with whom the Blade spoke also criticized Donald Trump.
Nancy Ballou held a sign that read, "no hate in our state" as she walked along West Superior Avenue near Cleveland's Public Square on Monday afternoon. She told the Blade that she had just left a protest against Trump and his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.
"I want the world to know that Donald Trump and his running mate do not represent us, don't represent my town, my state, don't represent my country," said Ballou, who described herself as an LGBT ally.
Kahn noted to the Blade that the "full name on my ID is definitely like one of the groups Trump wants to ban from this country." The Cleveland resident added that Trump's rise is indicative of a "poorly hidden undercurrent" of racism, homophobia and transphobia.
"Trump is the natural response to even the slightest inconvenience that people feel once it's pointed out," said Kahn. "I really wish it wasn't this way, but in so many ways I'm like when you let this much hatred ferment in your country for so long, who else but Donald Trump is going to show up."
Brosch echoed Kahn.
"I veer back and forth between being like this is clearly some kind of publicity stunt or some sort of elaborate performance art," said Brosch, referring to Trump's campaign. "That's not elaborate performance art because things are actually happening and that's mostly just terrifying."
