Jewish organization supports central Ohio LGBTQ+ community after Nazi protest

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – There is a new voice in the public arena joining the outcry against a group of neo-Nazis who most recently showed up at a drag brunch fundraiser in Columbus last weekend.

The Central Conference of American Rabbis is showing support for the LGBTQ+ community, condemning discrimination in all of its forms.

“I would suggest that our own position has to do more with the dignity of every human being and the capacity of every human being to make their own decision about their lives, and to live in a place of freedom where they can act on that within the dictates of their own sense of faith and moral conscience,” Lewis Kamrass, senior rabbi of Isaac M. Wise Temple of Cincinnati, said.

Dressed in red and wearing black ski masks, the neo-Nazis also displayed swastikas as they protested a drag queen fundraiser for the Kaleidoscope Youth Center on Saturday.

“It brings up for some the trauma of those who were living in, in Nazi Germany at the time of Kristallnacht, or, or even during the war, and who are victims and survivors themselves, or especially even those now who are more active in our community and sharing their stories, but who are children of Holocaust survivors,” Rick Kellner, rabbi at Congregation Beth Tikvah in Columbus, said.

Kamrass said a lack of reaction from the public emboldens these hate groups to continue their demonstrations.

“We know from history, from American history, from world history, from Jewish history, we know that hatred flourishes in silence,” he said. “And that when there is an attack, as there was in Columbus by this group, but a hateful demonstration, that when others do not react to it, it gives license to those who wish to continue such actions to do so.”

The rabbis admit that not all religions embrace the LGBTQI community, but humanity and faith, they said, demand acceptance.

“We all need to protect each other’s rights and freedoms,” Kamrass said. “This is really a battle for the soul of Columbus, of Ohio, of the nation, of what will be the rights of individuals to live in, free of intimidation or fear; what will be the rights of the people to make their own decisions.”

“And as the Rabbi Kamrass said, they don't have to agree with us,” Kellner said. “What we are here to do is promote that love and respect and dignity for every human being no matter who they are, no matter where they live.”

For more on the protests and the support coming from the Central Conference of American Rabbis, watch The Spectrum this Sunday at 10 a.m. on NBC4.