Ocean State Today

While a student at Brown University, the son of current Republican Ohio U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno was the president of a "pole dancing" club that held "performances" mocking Christmas, and Christianity.

Adam Moreno was president of the "Brown Poler Bears pole-dancing club," which held strip-tease events for students, including shows that were Christmas-themed and featured half-naked dancers dressed like Catholic clergy and angels.

"In the name of the father, son, and holy spirit," read a Poler Bears post on Facebook describing its "Forbidden Fruit: Seven Sins" show.

A Brown University' Poler Bears Christmas Card, featuring Adam Moreno, whose father is currently running for U.S. Senate in Ohio. | Facebook

It featured a pole-dancing woman with a mitre on her head and a vestment strewn back over her shoulder.

Moreno himself appeared in a "Poler Bears" Christmas greeting posted on Facebook titled "Get Naughty," featuring members of the group dressed in Christmas-themed attire. 

The Poler Bears' annual spring "Assed-Away" show is described as "ass-centric," featuring "beach balls, dommy mommies, and eating in all forms."

The Poler Bears describe themselves as a "pole dancing collective" that stands for "celebrating queerness, bashing shame, practicing sex and body positivity and neutrality" and "developing our own senses of strength."

"Cum One, Cum All to Poler Bear Auditions," read a Poler Bears post, announcing tryouts for the group.

"The Nightmare before Christmas"

As president of the Poler Bears, Moreno led a Christmas-themed show that mocked 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, the popular poem by Clement Clarke Moore that describes a father witnessing Santa Claus visiting his home on Christmas Eve.

"The show culminated grandly in a sensational performance by Adam Moreno ’18 in tall platform black combat boots to Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” as a smoke machine blasted vapor across the stage. The crowd went wild," said a report in the Brown Daily Herald.

The performance, at the the Dark Lady, a Providence gay bar, commemorated "World AIDS Day" and included "free HIV testing." 

Bernie Moreno, Adam's father, running in the March 19 Republican primary, has stated he was raised Catholic but doesn't agree with church teaching on homosexuality.

Formerly a Cleveland automobile dealer, Bernie Moreno sponsored the "Gay Games" in Cleveland, a week-long event which includes gay sporting events and a “cultural festival.”

Adam Moreno told Brown Magazine that the group "exists to promote the athleticism and artistry of pole dancing and to combat the stigma associated with it."

“If anyone comes to one of our shows, that’s immediately erased," he said.

"Even though it terrifies me, I love the few time I was able to perform," wrote Poler Bears "social media and bondage co-chair," Richard Hill, on Facebook. "I was raised in a pretty socially conservative environment so it's unreal that now I can break all of that down so effectively through the pole.

According to his Linkedin page, Moreno now runs a company called "Pangolin Plush," which makes "hand-sewn" stuffed animals, to teach children about anteater-like animals called pangolins. 

Moreno graduated from Brown in 2018 and then from Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2022.

He also worked as an animal keeper for four months at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Moreno graduated from Lake Ridge Academy in North Ridgeville, Ohio in 2014, where he was president of the "Animal Rights club for 3 years.. Heavily involved in the environmental education club, humanitarian aid society, and model united nations club," according to Linkedin.