BUCYRUS — Controversy has surrounded the 2019 Bratwurst Festival Queen Pageant after a social media post Monday morning was made by an emcee, claiming discriminatory actions took place.

Queen pageant co-emcee Matthew Meade took to Facebook to share what he believed to be a discriminatory act based on his sexual orientation during the pageant Aug. 15.

Meade was crowned 2017 Mr. Gay Ohio.

Meade posted the following:

In response to the social media post, the Bratwurst Festival Board of Directors shared the following news release:

Bratwurst Festival, Inc. Board President Amanda Myers, after complaints were received by a pageant emcee on his treatment by members of the festival, reiterated today that, “Bratwurst Festival, Inc. does not discriminate against any person, regardless of their ethnicity, sexual orientation, political beliefs, or for any other reason.”

Queen Pageant Emcee Matthew Meade, of Marion, Ohio, who also holds the title of 2017 Mr. Gay Ohio, was chosen by the pageant committee to join Jayna Kubuske, a former queen of the Marion Popcorn Festival to emcee the 2019 Bratwurst Festival Queen’s Pageant. Concern was raised by some committee members, who wanted to assure that the pageant was going to be centered on the contestants and not used as a political platform.

Mrs. Myers further stated that, “I have spoken with Mr. Meade and offered a verbal apology on behalf of the Board of Directors, and will be mailing him an official apology letter as well. I have reached out to Mr. Meade in an attempt to invite him to meet with our board of directors, and as of today he has declined to meet with us”. Myers added, “Our community was founded by a diverse group of people, and we continue to be a diverse group of people. We want to assure everyone that all are welcome at our festival and in our community. I want to publicly apologize to Mr. Meade and anyone else who was offended by this unfortunate incident.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Meade again took to Facebook to follow-up his original post with a personal video.

Crawford County Now continues to follow the story and will provide updates as they are available.