'Compelled by force': County leader signals disdain for marginalized community programs
EDITOR'S NOTE: Ottawa County Board Chair Joe Moss signed both memorandums of understanding with his actual signature on Monday, May 22.
OTTAWA COUNTY — Book bans. Protests. And now, as far-right fundamentalists wield newfound power and influence in West Michigan, Ottawa Impact leader Joe Moss has used his role to signal disapproval of county grantees that support LGBTQ+ individuals and Black residents.
Ottawa Impact, an ultraconservative Christian group created in 2021 fueled by outrage over the county and state response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, began publicly railing against the concept of diversity, equity and inclusion as it launched political campaigns for local elected positions.
DEI is a value system that promotes the fair treatment and full participation of all people, particularly groups that've been historically underrepresented or subject to discrimination.
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Ottawa Impact, however, claims concepts like DEI have been commandeered by a left-wing agenda.
“Diversity and inclusion, as traditionally defined, are beautiful words and bring value and richness to our relationships, homes and communities,” according to the group’s website. “However, these words have been co-opted by the progressive left with divisive teachings which are being ushered into our county through the DEI office.”
OI’s founders, Joe Moss and Sylvia Rhodea, targeted county commission seats in 2022, recruiting like-minded candidates who agreed “traditional Republicans” weren’t enforcing true conservative policies.
Its candidates were required to sign a contract saying they recognized the "Judeo-Christian heritage" of the United States and "celebrate America as an exceptional nation blessed by God.”
They unseated eight Republican incumbents in the August primary — with a county voter turnout at or below 30 percent of registered voters — and won a controlling majority of the 11-member board. (Two later publicly distanced themselves from the group as lawsuits and controversies marked the first four months of the its tenure.)
On Jan. 3, when they were sworn into office, Ottawa Impact made quick work enacting several controversial changes, including closing the county’s relatively new DEI Office and changing the county’s motto from “Where You Belong” to “Where Freedom Rings.”
The percentage of U.S. adults who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual has increased to about 7.1 percent, according to a 2022 Gallup poll. According to state data, Michigan was home to an estimated 373,000 residents who identify as LGBTQ+ in 2021, about 3.7 percent.
LGBTQ-related issues have dominated headlines in 2023, as an upswell of the religious right has found traction on the issue of transgender identity, particularly among young people — re-energizing supporters and donors.
“We knew we needed to find an issue that the candidates were comfortable talking about,” Terry Schilling, the president of the social conservative advocacy group American Principles Project, told The New York Times in April. “And we threw everything at the wall.”
Books and the ‘sexualization’ of children
Since the onset of the pandemic, the inherent danger of books has been hotly debated across West Michigan.
In November, Moss and Rhodea crafted a 14-page manifesto titled “The Sexualization of Michigan Children in Public Schools." In it, they make the argument that “the sexualization of Michigan’s children and the push to eliminate parents from education and medical decisions … has occurred under the strategic influence of activists within Michigan government and special interest groups.”
By then, Moss and Rhodea were well-versed in protesting school-related issues. Rhodea, a self-described “parental-rights advocate” has been a long-time agitator in Allendale Public Schools, her current district. Moss unsuccessfully sued the county and its commissioners in 2021 over a mask mandate that briefly closed the private Christian school he helped found over repeated noncompliance.
Their views were shared by residents who started speaking at local school board meetings.
In 2020, parents in Hamilton were vocal enough in their complaints that the district implemented a new book review system. Last August, the operating millage for Patmos Library in Jamestown Township was voted down over inclusion of books with LGBTQ+ characters and themes, as was a second attempt in November.
With the operating millage voted down, the library is slated to close permanently in January 2025. The library has said that, out of 67,000 materials in circulation, approximately 90 are LGBTQ-related, or 0.001 percent of the library’s offerings.
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During a May 15 meeting of the Zeeland Public Schools Board of Education, more than a dozen public speakers focused on the content of library books, specifically their concerns about sexual content and language.
One went so far as to say “the devil wants to destroy the identity of our children” and said “parental rights are under attack and being extinguished,” despite the fact that all parents have the right to restrict specific book titles for their children in school libraries.
R. Aimee Chipman, owner of Holland Township's Bluestocking Bookshop, said she was "horrified" by the comments.
“For us, it’s important that all books are available to read for all people, because that’s how we learn about the world around us,” Chipman said.
“It’s how we learn things we’re not learning in school, things we’re not learning from families. All books are worth reading and anybody who says they don’t want to read a certain book doesn’t have to read it. It’s not just about the freedom to read, but the freedom to choose not to read.”
Chipman said most of the banned and challenged books this year, according to the American Library Association, deal with LGBTQ themes and issues of identity. She said these books are important because they teach empathy and encourage critical thinking.
“The fact that so many of them deal with LGBTQ and issues of identity tells me these conversations are not being had, they’re being suppressed,” she said. “It's important for not just today’s youth, but for all of us, to be able to read so we’re looking at perspectives of our world that are not our own.”
'Vi coactus'
In February, the county informed the Holland-based LGBTQ nonprofit Out on the Lakeshore that it was approved to receive $8,000 in grant funding provided by the Michigan Public Health Institute. But the funds never came.
Several organizations that should have received funding, in fact, experienced significant delays without explanation. The memorandums of understanding were written and ready, waiting solely on a signature from Moss — who didn't respond to a request for comment on this article.
The money for OOTL will fund a tabletop gaming program for youth and young adults, said Kate Leighton-Colburn, the organization's executive director.
“It's evidence-based curriculum and therapeutically inclined, but it's not therapy,” Leighton-Colburn said. “It's therapeutic in nature and skills-based. It's providing young people with a space to develop coping mechanisms, explore identity, explore certain facets of life, like failure and success, all through the lens of a tabletop role-playing game.”
She said such activities are critically important for LGBTQ youth, who often struggle to find support, and not receiving the funds — four months later — is short-changing the community OOTL is trying to serve.
“I'm really focusing on the facts. And the fact that we were promised this money at this time, and the current board of commissioners did not follow through on that promise, for whatever reason," she said.
OOTL’s Board Chair Susan Mendoza said the delay has prevented the program from being ready in time to launch for the summer, as the organization planned. She said it’s important for LGBTQ children to have the support they need as they transition from school to home.
“That tends to be one of those places where the most support is needed,” Mendoza said. “Having those skill sets are incredibly important. This particular approach to providing support is innovative, but it's also incredibly accessible to kids.”
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Leighton-Colburn said she worries about the impact of her under-served community.
“It kind of sent us scrambling a little bit, because I want to launch this program, no matter what, whether we see this funding or not. However, it meant shifting some of our priorities to refocus on funding for this program, when really we should have been able to focus on other priorities at that time,” she said.
On April 27, Leighton-Colburn emailed Moss asking for information on why the funds hadn’t been released.
Moss replied that he was ”waiting on a couple answers from administration and the health department so we can wrap up the process (and answer some questions from the board)."
On May 11, Leighton-Colburn emailed all 11 county commissioners asking why her organization still hasn't received funding when 21 other organizations had. She didn't receive a response.
On Friday, May 19, she was notified that the MOU for her grant was "signed," but Moss didn't use his name. Instead, he signed it "vi coactus," Latin for "compelled by force" or "having been compelled."
The Holland-based 1cor13project, a nonprofit centered on the “health, healing and wholeness of Black people in particular,” according to its website, had also not received its promised funding of $12,500 for a Black doula program as of Friday — aimed at improving health outcomes for pregnant Black women.
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In 2021, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, 2.6 times the rate of white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The project's MOU received the same "vi coactus" signature from Moss.
Because he signed the documents, they could still be legally binding.
The legal defense of claiming duress when signing documents must include:
An immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury to the actor
A well-grounded fear that someone will carry out the threat
No reasonable opportunity for escape, except by committing the unlawful act
Attorneys told The Sentinel on Friday the county is an entity, not a person, and can't claim duress. It was unclear as of press time if the county will still distribute the promised funds to the organizations.
“It's curious what organizations were not funded, and the organizations that were,” Mendoza said. “It reinforces perceptions of how minoritized populations will be supported by county government, how they're valued and how they're seen.”
Although he's never responded to local media inquiries, Moss has leveraged his position as board chair to make OI’s views known, at one point appearing on a conservative radio show to suggest the Health Officer Adeline Hambley engaged in a cover-up over a sexual health event.
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Most recently, he and Rhodea championed delaying a decade-old community health survey when they were unsuccessful in trying to remove or alter certain questions.
On Feb. 21, Hambley — who is currently suing Moss and the board — told commissioners they didn't have authority over the questions.
She added questions related to sexual orientation and gender identity, which she believed to be sources of concern for commissioners, are necessary for hospitals to understand healthcare needs and health disparities for those populations.
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On May 9, the survey was finally allowed to move forward — but Moss put health department staff on notice to “get way ahead” of the next cycle for the county’s Youth Assessment Survey, as “it sounds like some board members object to some of the questions.”
On its website, Ottawa Impact says the group does not support, among other things, “a minor’s gender transition, surveys inquiring about a minor’s sexual activities and family beliefs and public or school library books provided to minors containing illicit sexual/sexuality content or graphic violence.”
Activists, officials weigh in
The anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has spilled over into other local government boards.
On Monday, protesters showed up to Grand Haven’s meeting to object to the city’s Pride Festival, approved in April and slated for June 10, according to the Grand Haven Tribune.
“I don’t want to subject my family to an event that is sexual in nature and is unsuitable for children that will be taking place in a public place in downtown Grand Haven,” said Grand Haven Township resident Adam Reece.
“Same-sex relationships do not produce life, they do not produce the future generations of Grand Haven,” he continued. “It is sad that the traditions of the families of Grand Haven and the families visiting Grand Haven will be broken this year for an event that has no business being in the public square.”
“We are here tonight in response to a city condoning sin and depravity,” said Jenison resident Marc Edgecombe. “If you are not a Christian — a true follower of Christ — it is unsurprising that you would condone this. This is not a judgmental or bigoted statement on my part. I do not consider myself better than any of you.
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“If you profess to be a Christian and stand in support of this event, then what Bible are you reading? I’m not just talking to the council. If you are a church, and a pastor, and have turned your head, then who do you fear more, God or man? Cowardice has one result, and one reward, and that is eternal judgment.”
The danger of certain books recently came up in Holland, where Councilman Quincy Byrd read excerpts from “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, and argued the book is “pornographic” and inappropriate for young children — then asked other councilmembers at what age they lost their virginity and went on to read sections discussing masturbation, sex toys and oral sex.
“I know as a council this isn’t something that we have direct control over, but as leaders of this community, as leaders of this great city, we have to do something for our kids,” he said.
Byrd also was the lone councilmember to vote against adding LGBTQ protections to the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance, which passed in 2020.
Is excluding LGBTQ people inherently Christian?
Keith Mannes is an ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ and has worked as a chaplain and minister for 35 years.
Brought up in the Christian Reformed Church, Mannes said the current faith view of far-right fundamentalists is more of an embracement of the Old Testament while eschewing the New Testament, which spoke of Jesus’ enduring love and forgiveness.
“In the true story of Jesus, he utterly and clearly rejected political domination as his method for bringing God’s good to the world and for changing the world for the better,” Mannes said.
He said he's deeply concerned over politicians on the fringe who mix religious fervor with conspiracy theories.
“This kind of religion is a mangling of the life, teaching and example of Jesus,” he said. “We all suffer hellish misery in this world — degradation, brutality, violence and cruelty. Our souls want and need the sheer and simple relief of God’s love and compassion … and Jesus calls us to serve and bless every person, without exception.”
He said the primary message of Jesus was to defend and protect people who were victims of racism, exclusion and condemnation.
How did that message change? Mannes said it began early on.
“‘We are God's people. We are sent.’ (That thinking) kind of got into the bones of our forebears here in this country, and then that allowed a justification of slavery,” he said.
"'We are God's people. We are here to inherit the land.' It was the doctrine of Manifest Destiny that led early settlers in this country to head west and believe that it was their right and duty to cast the pagans out of the land because God said, 'I gave you that land. So go get it, conquer it, kill every man, woman and child. And it's yours because I gave it to you.'
“So when you've got that kind of mindset going: ‘We are God's people. Now we are the new Israel. And so we are here to dominate the world.' When that message gets into your bones … then you can justify a whole lot of human cruelty.”
— Sentinel reporter Mitchell Boatman contributed to this article. Sarah Leach is executive editor of The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at sarah.leach@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @SentinelLeach.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: 'Compelled by force': County leader signals disdain for marginalized community programs
