An anti-LGBTQ+ group has announced a “Heterosexual Awesomeness Fest” in downtown Boise, Idaho, to take place June 20 and 21 during Pride Month. While the event promises “live music, food trucks, kid-friendly chaos, and hard-hitting talks,” similar attempted celebrations in the past have mostly touted MAGA-style queerphobia while attracting pro-LGBTQ+ counter-protestors.

“This ain’t your limp-wristed woke fest; it’s a full-on celebration of family values with guts,” said the event’s website. “[We’re] throwing down to honor God’s design and obliterate the anti-family noise.”

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The group, founded by bar-owner Mark Fitzpatrick, calls itself “a battle-ready force in the culture war, targeting … those who oversexualize children, DEI hustlers, and school indoctrinators.”

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“From Big Pharma’s pill-pushing schemes to the Marxist teachings of LGBTQ+…” Hetero Awesome “has the opposition identified,” the group’s website states.

Fitzpatrick owns the Old State Saloon, where he has invited cisgender heterosexuals to “champion heterosexual awesomeness, standing firm in the face of radical opposition.”

In addition to offering “Heterosexual Karaoke” and “a Constitutional Conservative Conga Line, led by Dancin’ Donna,” the bar will offer drink discounts for hetero women and men with “XX” and “XY” chromosomes, respectively. (The bar didn’t explain how it will verify drinkers’ chromosomes.)

“This celebration of traditional gender norms and heterosexual awesomeness is set to be… the talk of those who still believe in the charm of a good old-fashioned, non-rainbow-colored party,” his bar wrote.

The event will reportedly be sponsored by Idaho Wild Real Estate. Fitzgerald held a similar event at his bar last year.

Idaho Statesman opinion columnist Scott McIntosh recently criticized the event, writing, “I’ve never felt that my marriage was under attack; I’ve never felt threatened. Preserving the right of my gay friends, neighbors, and family members to marry whom they wish in no way infringes on my values or the way I live my life.”

McIntosh noted that the Idaho Legislature recently passed a resolution calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the decision that legalized same-sex marriage and refused to add sexual orientation and gender identity to statewide anti-discrimination protections offered by the Idaho Human Rights Act. The legislature has also refused to repeal a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. State legislators also repealed a law criminalizing homosexuality only three years ago, the writer noted.

A sad history of Straight Pride events in the U.S.

In 2019, a Massachusetts group called Super Happy Fun America held a “straight pride” event in Boston, Massachusetts. It was basically a white supremacist rally celebrating then-President Donald Trump. Only about 100 to 200 attendees participated, including alt-right, ex-gay troll Milo Yiannopoulos. Counter-protestors vastly outnumbered the attendees. 

A similar event in California had 20 attendees and 200 counterprotesters. It began with a brief, private morning rally at the nearby Durrer Barn. The barn’s owners said they had no idea their venue had been reserved for a hate rally, and so they cut the event shortly after learning this.

In 2015, Anthony Rebello promoted a Straight Pride parade in Seattle. He invited thousands of people via Facebook, writing: “In the name of equality & equal rights, I have created this event to celebrate our right to be heterosexual, and to encourage younger heterosexuals that they should be proud of their heterosexuality.”

The parade was held on July 25, 2015 — Rebello was the only one who marched, holding a bunch of black and white balloons and a “STRAiGhT Pride” sign made of cardboard. He blamed some sort of vague gay terror squad for his parade’s failure, whining, “A lot of heterosexuals don’t want their pictures taken because they are scared of the LGBT community. Look at the way they have treated me.”

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