Because of their lack of leadership and understanding of people who are different, we still lack state laws to protect basic LGBTQ civil rights. And the Idaho legislature is comprised of many of the same old, white men who ran the state when I was a child, who are related to many of the same people who ran the state when my parents were growing up. Yet just two years ago, a gay man named Steve Nelson was murdered in Nampa because of his sexual orientation. My upbringing in Nampa was 20-plus years ago, and I’d like to think a child in school today would have a better experience. (Trans+ people certainly didn’t.) It wasn’t until I left Idaho in 2005 that I began the journey to accept my queer identity. In my town, gay men were considered disease-ridden perverts lesbians were unattractive tomboys who couldn’t “get a man,” and bisexuals were confused sluts, if they existed at all. The messages I heard about sexuality were overwhelmingly straight, white, Christian, and conforming. Simplot) advocating the 30th anniversary of Boise Pride.Īs a kid attending public school in Nampa during the 1990s, I didn’t know a single openly LGBTQ person.
![boise gay pride 2021 boise gay pride 2021](https://media1.fdncms.com/pittsburgh/imager/u/original/17874161/pittsburghpride-2019.jpg)
My jaw dropped when I drove past the billboard on JUMP (the nonprofit community center built by the heirs of french fry magnet J.R. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not meaningful brand activism either.Īs someone who grew up in a suburb of Boise, the LGBTQ hub of my deeply red state, I’m heartened when I see major Idaho corporations publicly supporting Pride.
![boise gay pride 2021 boise gay pride 2021](https://i0.wp.com/www.gayrio4u.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/rio-gay-pride-5.jpg)
#Boise gay pride 2021 full#
Pride season is in full swing (pun intended), and corporations are decking themselves out in rainbows and sponsoring parades.