LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — Billboards displayed around the Lima area prompted public comment during Monday night's Lima City Council meeting, where people on both sides of the issue addressed council members.
The billboards, purchased by Seattle-based Them Before Us, display the messages "No Child Has Two Dads" and "No Child Has Two Moms."
Opponents, including members and supporters of the LGBTQ+ community, argued the messages are hateful, open to multiple interpretations and are not based in fact.
“Mom and dad are labels, labels earned by those who stick it out, step up, who provide the support, the love, the sacrifice without viewing it as a sacrifice. I strive daily to make my daughter proud of me, to be worthy of her admiration. But not all DNA donors do the same. So what am I hoping to gain from today? I want us to look with a discerning eye at what free speech allows and the cost when it goes unchecked. This ad was worded to trigger people, and it has triggered people across party lines,” said Megan Tucker-Manly, who opposes the billboards.
Representatives of Them Before Us said the billboards are intended to express what they describe as a biological reality. The organization said it believes children are best raised by their biological mother and father.
“This is not to say that adoptive parents are not parents. Adoptive parents take on tremendous burdens to step in for a child when tragedy strikes. However, there is a huge difference between stepping in to fix brokenness and actively creating a situation of brokenness for a child. That active creation of brokenness, the intentional severance of bonds between a child and one or more of his biological parents, is what our billboards address,” said Nicholas Spencer, engagement director for “Them Before Us”.
In other business, council approved a resolution opposing Enbridge Gas' request to increase its distribution rates and urged the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to deny the company's request.
