According to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, Idaho is in a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ individuals.
In June of 2024, the Boise Police Department reported on three separate occasions that pride flags hanging along Harrison Boulevard were damaged or stolen.
This not only disheartened Idaho’s LGBTQ+ community, but shined an even brighter light on their never ending fight in the state of Idaho.
In an immediate response to the hate crimes, Boiseans chose to rally together in efforts to salvage the remaining flags and gather funds for replacing flags that had gone missing.
“It’s important to remember why pride exists,” said Elayne Wylie.
Wylie served as the Gender Justice League’s executive director for 10 years and is now a producer of Trans Pride Seattle, a major sponsor of a few Boise Pride events.
“It used to be illegal to express your gender or sexuality openly, and our community finally had enough,” Wylie said.
Boise, Idaho’s first Pride Parade took place in June of 1990. Coordinated by Brian J. Berquist, the late assistant director and coordinator of conference services in the Boise State Student Union, approximately 350 community members marched in this parade.
In a November 1989 issue of “Out!”, Boise’s discontinued queer newspaper, Berequist wrote, “The very idea of a Gay Pride Parade sends chills down the back of many in Boise. It would create controversy. It would create interest. It would cry out to the greater Boise community that we are here and we exist and we deserve to be able to have our day in the sun.”
Boise’s Pride Festival takes place every September to celebrate the victories and culture of Boise’s LGBTQ+ community. This three day celebration gives the community a safe haven to express themselves.
Green Sonersen is one of the many young adults who attended the festival. Sonersen said they have attended Boise Pride every year since they were a child.
“My parents are lesbians, so Pride has always been really big in our family. It’s really nice, especially growing up in Idaho where it’s much redder than the rest of the United States,” Sonersen said. “Every September, you can see your community. You can see that you are not alone here and that people around you are rallying for you.”
Idaho’s first Trans March
Idaho’s first Trans March made history at the heart of The Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.
Boise Pride Festival kicked off with Idaho’s First Trans March on Eighth and Jefferson Street. Hundreds of community members marched through the streets of Boise, Idaho to showcase their excitement and love for Idaho’s transgender and non-binary communities.
Marchers held homemade signs with messages reading “IT STARTS HERE!” and “Trans Joy is Revolutionary”. Around 6:30 p.m., the crowd gathered at the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial for a mini-showcase consisting of local trans speakers and performances.
“Boise, this is our first of many, many more Trans Joy marches,” said Bonnie Violet Quintana, the lead organizer of the event, as she welcomed the marchers.
“We were hungry for it, we were ready for it. This should not be revolutionary, this should be everyday,” Quintana said.
Elayne Wylie is a producer of Trans Pride Seattle, a June pride event held in Seattle, Washington to celebrate the transgender community.
Trans Pride Seattle is a generous sponsor of Idaho’s March for Trans Joy. Wylie said that upon hearing word that Idaho residents were planning a Trans Pride March, Trans Pride Seattle organizers knew they wanted to help in any way they could.
“Being transgender, as a member of a tiny portion of the population, can sometimes feel isolating without community. Even though America as a whole has shown overwhelming support for trans people of all ages, it’s often a very vocal minority that displays their opposition,” Wylie said. “An event like this generates hope and camaraderie, and a shared purpose of being able to live a life in community with others.”
Quintana noted that while this march has been deemed Idaho’s first Trans March, it is not the first time the community has come together to rally for their rights.
This was the first time a march was held with only one victory in mind — to spread joy and hope.
“I think joy is one of the most vulnerable emotions that somebody can have, it comes from within,” Quintana said. “So much of the time we’re put in a position to respond to what is happening for us, instead of just living, being and existing.”
“Give Us Our Flowers While We Are Here”
Despite Idaho’s first Trans March and Boise Pride Festival having a lively turn out, Quintana mentioned that returning back to the real world after a weekend filled with love and community can be overstimulating and emotionally draining for queer folk.
“We’re back to struggling to pay our bills or finding a place to pee, you know, basic life stuff,” Quintana said. “For many of us who are trans and non-binary, it feels like a daily task. We’re constantly coming out and we’re constantly being interrogated.”
Quintana knew she wanted to leave something for trans and non-binary people to take home and cherish after the event.
Idaho’s First Trans March introduced an evocative art installation titled “Give Us Our Flowers While We Are Here” after stellar performances by the girl group “DEMUR” with members Transjenifahs Gawdy, Frida Nightz and Kara-Mel and boy band “The Masc Street Boiz” with members Frank, Micah, Devlyn and Dixon.
Participants were invited to write messages of hope for the trans and non-binary community on notes attached to carnations. The flowers were then marched to the Idaho State Capital to be added to a welded metal art structure built by Xanadu, Billy Edney and Kaden Sinclair.
“Oftentimes, you hear a lot about trans people after they die,” Quintana said. “They’re often murdered, commit suicide or have some sort of violent death. I’ve heard ‘give us our flowers while we’re here’, so let’s not wait until we die to give each other our flowers.”
The “Give Us Our Flowers While We Are Here” project was a hit. The organizers of the March for Trans Joy purchased almost 1,600 flowers and gave out every single one to members and allies of the trans and non-binary community throughout the march and the rest of Boise Pride Festival.
Notes written by community members had a variety of uplifting messages such as ‘It’s never too late to be you,’ and ‘Life grows lovely where you are!’.
“One of the things I really loved about the flowers was just getting to hear what people would write. I saw plenty of trans and non-binary people cry when they received a flower,” Quintana said. “There was this one individual who asked ‘Is it okay if I write ‘don’t do it’?’’, which I think was a sentiment of don’t take your life. I think they were concerned it was morbid or dark. If it feels like something you need to say, say it, because who knows who’s gonna get that message, and maybe that is exactly what they needed to hear.”
Love from Boise’s 35th Pride Festival
“For three days of the year, I’m not afraid of being who I am,” CJ Marlow, a pride attendee, said.
This is the sentiment that was felt throughout Cecil D. Andrus Park over Idaho’s three day long Pride festival.
CJ Marlow attended Boise Pride Festival 2024 radiating joy, with rainbows painted on their cheeks and a pin on their overalls stating “you are enough”.
“I feel so happy to see other people experience such a profound sense of joy,” Marlow said. “I’ve seen a lot of older couples holding hands. It’s so sweet to see people who have survived through everything. It’s truly inspirational.”
Lauren McClean, the mayor of Boise, proclaimed that Sept. 13-15 would be deemed ‘Boise Pride Week’, highlighting the event’s significance.
Hundreds of local businesses and vendors filled the park with food trucks, informational booths, art and laughter.
The Boise Pride Festival stage was filled with passion and charisma with nine headliners, including Grammy Award winner Daya and opera singer, drag queen and composer Sapphira Cristàl.
“Grrl Rave” created a safe space for women and queer folks during the weekend of Boise Pride.
The creators of the rave said they were inspired by a need they felt in the community for exclusively queer and women event spaces.
Danielle Mitten is the co-creator and creative director of Grrl Rave.
“Boise has a vibrant queer and femme community, and it is important for the community not just to come together, but to come together in a space that is directly run and operated by women and queer folk,” Mitten said. “Grrl Rave events are spaces where women and people are not guests in the space. They own it.”
Grrl Rave’s priority is giving back to the community, especially in honor of Pride.
“We are using a portion of the funds to purchase binders, breast forms, and emergency housing supplies for the trans community,” Mitten said.
For some, this was their first time attending Boise Pride.
“It’s amazing. It’s so freeing to just be here and be myself. That was my biggest fear in the past,” Eva Cresci said.
Cresci was hosting a booth with Van Knapp in honor of Canyon County Pride. This is her first year attending Boise Pride.
“I had this part of me that wanted to be here, to be a part of this, but I couldn’t because of that stigma. To be able to embrace that and be here is forever life changing,” Cresci said.
For others, Boise Pride is a testament to how far Boise has come as a community.
Graham McBride was working for Flying M at the Pride festival. It was their fourth year attending the festival.
“It’s pretty huge for me as a queer person growing up here in Idaho,” McBride said. “It’s been cool to see this particular festival grow and gain popularity. I feel really honored to be a little part of that.”
Boise Pride Festival not only showcases the resilience and solidarity of Idaho’s LGBTQ+ community, but reminds the community of the power that love and joy hold in the face of adversity.
