The LGBTQ+ community had a rough week in Idaho, but this has only caused the community and its allies to rally in opposition. Nine protestors have been arrested in the state so far.

Two bills that were passed earlier by the Idaho Legislature made their way to Republican Gov. Brad Little’s desk, malignly timed for his signature on Tuesday, this year’s Transgender Day of Visibility.

Related

Trans man schools lawmakers on why “bathroom bills” are ridiculous & dangerous

The first imposes extreme penalties for trans people who “knowingly and willfully” use a bathroom aligned with their gender, in both government buildings and private businesses. A first misdemeanor offense could earn a year in jail, with punishments rising to a possible felony sentence of life in prison.

The other law Little signed bans state and local governments from flying the Pride flag on government buildings. It’s the second Idaho law to address the rainbow banner, after the Boise City Council defiantly added the Pride standard to its list of official flags last year to circumvent rules around the state’s initial ban.

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Shortly after Gov. Little signed the bill into law, Boise lowered its Pride flag, ten years after first raising it.

A third bill now awaits the governor’s signature: House Bill 822 would require schools and health and childcare providers to out trans kids to their parents if they express any desire to socially transition. Teachers, administrators, school nurses, and others would have three days to report the aberrant behavior before being subject to compensatory damages by parents who sue them.

While all of the bills have encountered resistance as they moved through the Legislature, Republicans, who enjoy a government trifecta in the State Capitol in Boise, have overcome all of it.

They have not silenced the voices of opposition, however.

On the day Gov. Little signed the bills, Boise Mayor Lauren McLean stood with council members and about 60 supporters at a special City Council meeting, where they proclaimed March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility in the state capital.

“Many people in this state and around this country are seeking to divide us. They’re seeking to divide us by targeting the most vulnerable among us,” McLean said as she choked back tears, according to the Idaho Statesman. “I want the people in this room to know that I see you. We see you. You are wanted, important, and unique members of our community.”

That night, McLean lit City Hall in the colors of the transgender flag: pink, white, and baby blue.

At the State Capitol earlier, over 100 people attended a Transgender Day of Visibility event, where activists made speeches, a folk singer played, and a drag artist gave a performance. One sign among dozens read, “Stay out of my stall.”

Inside, protesters filled Gov. Little’s office, urging him to veto what Republicans are calling the “Pediatric Secretive Transitions Parental Rights Act.”

A dozen trans people and allies filled an anteroom in the governor’s office, displaying signs, singing hymns, and praying.

“I think there is some twisted thought of this idea of Christian nationalism, that we can create this state to be a Christian state,” the Rev. Sara LaWall, minister for the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, told the Idaho Capital Sun. LaWall is mom to a transgender child.

“That’s not how our country was founded,” she said. “Our country was founded on the freedom of religion.”

Nine protesters, including LaWall, were arrested after the governor’s office closed at 5 p.m., the Idaho State Journal reported. Dozens of supporters watched as troopers escorted them down a hall.

“Everybody rise up. Everybody rise up,” they chanted, singing the protesters out of sight.

Outside, Arya Shae, founder of Idaho advocacy group Trans Affirm, lamented the ignorance that led Republicans to pass the draconian bathroom bill, which Little signed earlier. They misunderstand — and are scared of — what it means to be transgender, he told the Statesman.

The result is an existential threat.

“This is their home,” Shae said of trans Idahoans. “They’ve been here all their life. But a lot of folks now, they’re saying, ‘Well, where can I go?’ There’s a certain point where it’s like, what else can we do?”

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.