Video: Ohio Republican Lawmaker Shoves LGBTQ+ Rights Protester

A transgender rights protest made the headlines last week when Rep. Scott Wiggam (R-Wooster) was caught on video physically shoving a protester.

The protester, Christopher Conomy, was banging a drum with the colors of the trans flag painted on the sides. The video depicts Wiggam rushing along the path to the steps of the statehouse, stepping over a puddle, but not around Conomy.

Wiggam is then seen forcibly shoving Conomy aside with his elbow. The two then appear to exchange words before Wiggam proceeded into the statehouse with Conomy banging his drum behind him.

The June 14 protest was in opposition to House Bill 68, legislation aimed at banning gender-affirming care for Ohio’s LGBTQ+ youth. At a hearing last week, the language banning trans female participation in athletics was folded into HB 68, creating a far-reaching anti-trans omnibus bill.

Conomy was present to urge lawmakers to vote no on the bill. He said he did not anticipate a physical confrontation with one of the very lawmakers he was protesting against.
“I realized I ended up in the middle of the path. So I started backing up as he approached, and there’s tons of room, and he looked me right in the eye, and he just came at me.” Conomy told Bob Kendrick of WSYX. “He was pretty rough about it. You can see in the video, I’m not like a teeny, tiny guy. He almost knocked me over.”

Conomy filed a police report with the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSP) and seeks to press charges against Wiggam.

“We were not blocking the sidewalk,” Conomy wrote in his statement given to OSP. “There was plenty of room in the middle of the path for anyone to pass by….The assaultant deliberately walked at me and pushed me. The assaultant made eye contact with me before he moved to make contact with me.”

Wiggam is a co-sponsor of HB 68. He has previously co-sponsored a ban on trans athletes: HB 61 in 2021. Last year, Wiggam voted to approve HB 151, which would have enforced mandatory genital checks of young athletes should their gender be challenged.

Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery) – the sponsor of HB 68 and a Baptist pastor who has recently made national headlines when an Ohio reporter unearthed video of past sermons endorsing conversation therapy – came to Wiggam’s defense on Twitter.

Click referred to Conomy as an “extremist” and claimed that Conomy physically assaulted Wiggam, using a screenshot of the incident as his proof.

When a Twitter user reposted the video of the incident, Click maintained his version was accurate.

Both the offices of Rep. Wiggam and Rep. Click have not responded to requests for comment.