[5][6] Center for Christian Virtue has described its mission as: "Seeking to eliminate all activities that debase individuals by catering to that which is obscene, pornographic, or indecent.
[13][14] CCV gained national attention for prosecuting the Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati in 1990; an unsuccessful attempt to censor an exhibition of photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe.
Saying that his addiction made him unable to safely consume pornography, Burress's wife examined pornographic movies and magazines on her husband's behalf, writing summaries for him so that he could speak about them to legislators and prosecutors.
Ohio pornographer Larry Flynt, opposing CCV, commented "when you check into a hotel room and order up a movie, it doesn't have any effect on Phil Burress.
[18] In 2001 John Ashcroft, then United States Attorney General, agreed to a meeting with "representatives of about a dozen anti-porn groups" organized by Burress and CCV.
[20] This ban would be challenged in 2013 by James Obergerfell of Cincinnati, leading to the court case Obergefell v. Hodges which would legalize gay marriage throughout the United States.
Approximately 50 strippers, calling themselves Dancers for Democracy, showed up at the Ohio House of Representatives in 2007 to oppose restrictions on strip clubs drafted by CCV.
SPLC defines a hate group as an organization with "beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics."
[4] In 2019 the Ohio House introduced a non-binding resolution backed by CCV[27] to declare pornography a public health hazard, saying that "the #MeToo movement has exposed how dangerous and harmful it is.
[33] Also in 2021, CCV president Aaron Baer issued a letter asking lawmakers to oppose the Ohio Fairness Act, which would criminalize discrimination against LGBTQ individuals.
[34] In 2024, CCV solicited Utah endocrinologist Daniel Weiss to testify in a hearing about Missouri's ban on gender affirming care for minors and paid costs related to preparing his testimony.