By Clark Corbin | BOISE, Idaho – Idaho’s sometimes brutal and bruising 2024 legislative session came to a quiet end at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise on Wednesday, as without overriding any vetoes or introducing any new major bills.

After passing a controversial transportation budget on April 3, Idaho legislators recessed until Wednesday to give themselves an opportunity to try to overcome any late-session vetoes issued by Gov. Brad Little. The Idaho Senate adjourned for the year shortly before 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, and the Idaho House of Representatives adjourned a few minutes later, at 2:49 p.m.

Little did issue two vetoes on bills this week during the legislative recess – one relating to the jurisdiction of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, another relating to a bill that would have granted the state treasurer the authority to keep a portion of state funds in physical gold and silver. The Idaho Senate attempted to override Little’s veto of Senate Bill 1323, the public utilities commission bill, but fell short of the necessary 23 vetoes. That means Little’s veto stands. 

On the other hand, Little allowed two of the most controversial late-session bills to become law. Little signed House Bill 710, which would require library’s to move so-called harmful materials upon a written request or face a lawsuit. Little also allowed House Bill 770, the transportation services budget that revokes the state’s authority to carry out the $51 million sale of the Idaho Transportation Department’s flooded former Boise headquarters on State Street, to become law without his signature. Little also allowed House Bill 726, a related budget bill for the Department of Administration, to become law without his signature.

Little addressed revoking the sale in a transmittal letter that was sent to House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, on Wednesday. 

“However, I did not sign these bills because the intent language unwinds statutory policy language about how the state handles surplus properties and it increases overhead for office space needs around the state,” Little wrote. “In addition it unfairly cancels an agreed upon sales process, causing future reputational risk for the State of Idaho.”

Idaho legislators missed adjournment targets partially because of GOP infighting

Wednesday was the 94th day of the session, which gaveled in back on Jan. 8. 

Legislators missed their self-appointed adjournment deadline twice due to in-fighting and behind-the-scenes debates. Legislative leaders originally hoped to wrap up the session on March 22. But the Idaho House got bogged down in a leadership struggle and contentious budget debate that set legislators back at least a week. On Feb. 8, House Republicans took what is widely viewed as the unprecedented step of removing a major member of leadership, former House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, from her leadership post during an ongoing session. Leadership elections traditionally take place in December of even numbered years following a general election. The vote or action to remove Blanksma appeared to happen behind closed doors. There was no announcement on the floor Feb. 8, and Blanksma quietly walked off the floor that day and was eventually replaced by new House Majority Leader Jason Monks, R-Meridian.

Several legislators on Wednesday agreed that it was time to wrap up the session for the year.

“It’s a privilege to be able to do this, but it’s time to be done,” Rep. Jack Nelsen, R-Jerome, told the Sun just before the Idaho House was called to order at noon Wednesday. 

What passed during Idaho’s 2024 legislative session?

• House Bill 722: The fiscal year 2025 budget for the Workforce Development Council provides $71 million to implement grants for the Idaho Launch program that Gov. Brad Little champions. The Idaho Launch program provides Idaho high school and home school graduates with $8,000 grants to prepare for an in-demand career. Little said the program will help train the next generation of Idahoans for a trade, allow them to remain home in Idaho and support businesses. But some prominent Republicans in the Idaho Legislature, including House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, targeted Launch as a “handout.” 
• House Bill 521: According to Idaho Education News, House Bill 521 creates ways for the state to spend an estimated $2 billion on school facilities over the next 10 years. Little made school facilities a prominent feature in his Jan. 8 State of the State address, highlighting a school that has sewage leaking under its cafeteria and telling the Idaho Legislature to stop kicking the can down the road on addressing the state’s deteriorating school buildings. “The can we are kicking is getting heavier, and we are running out of road,” Little warned in his State of the State address. 
• House Bill 399: After Idaho became the only state not to review maternal death data, this bill authorizes the Idaho Board of Medicine to collect and review that data. Before the Idaho Legislature allowed the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee to expire last summer, data between 2018 and 2021 had shown a steady increase in deaths among pregnant women and new mothers, the Sun previously reported.   
• Senate Bill 1234: This bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, and Rep. Jack Nelsen, R-Jerome, allows insurance enrollees to receive up to a six-month supply of contraceptives. Currently, many insurance plans only reimburse for a one-month to three-month supply, according to the bill’s statement of purpose. 
• House Bill 770: The fiscal year 2025 enhanced transportation services budget revokes the state’s authority to carry out the $51 million sale of the Idaho Transportation Department’s flooded former Boise headquarters on State Street and provides the third successive $200 million installment to repair and replace aging and poorly rated local bridges across Idaho. The debate over whether to block the sale of the State Street headquarters at least partially led to delaying the end of the 2024 legislative session and caused the would-be buyers from Hawkins Companies, the Pacific Companies and FJ Management to weigh their legal options after they said they thought they had struck a deal with the state. “We’re obviously extremely disappointed in the passage of this legislation,” said Brian Huffaker, CEO of Hawkins Companies, in a statement on behalf of Hawkins, The Pacific Companies and FJ Management. “This governmental overreach is a massive waste of taxpayer dollars, and we’re confident the courts will agree this kind of legislative interference in the free market violates the state constitution. We will be exploring legal action.”
• House Bill 421: The bill states the Idaho Legislature only recognizes two sexes in human beings; male and female. The bill also states the word “gender” shall be a synonym for the word “sex” and shall not be considered a synonym for gender identity. Both the Idaho House and Idaho Senate passed the bill, and Little signed it into law Tuesday.  
• House Bill 710: This year’s version of “the library materials bill” would require libraries to move materials deemed harmful to minors upon written notification from a parent, legal guardian or child, or be faced with a lawsuit for $250 dollars in statutory damages, plus uncapped actual damages and any other relief available by law. The Idaho House passed the harmful materials bill March 13, and it was one of the final bills of the year passed by the Idaho Senate on April 3. Little signed it Wednesday.
• House Bill 538: This bill enacts protections for public employees and teachers who are unwilling to use a person’s preferred pronouns. Idaho Education News reported that under the bill teacher’s will not be able to refer to a student by a name or pronoun that does not align with their birth sex without parental permission. Little signed the bill into law Monday. 
• Senate Bill 1377: This bill requires people who are paid to gather signatures for a ballot initiative or a referendum to disclose that they are being paid. Little signed it into law on April 4, and it is scheduled to take effect on July 1.  
• House Bill 599: Republican House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star and Rep. Brandon Mitchell, R-Moscow, co-sponsored the bill as a way to combat what supporters  described as “ballot harvesting.” Under the bill, it is illegal for someone to collect and turn in another person’s absentee ballot or unvoted ballot. If someone collects 10 or more ballots during any election a violation of the bill would become a felony. The bill includes exceptions for caregivers of voters, relatives of voters and a person who is a member of the voter’s household. However, opponents including the voting advocacy group Babe Vote, described the bill as a voter suppression law that criminalizes Idahoans for helping their neighbors turn in their absentee ballots. Little signed the bill into law Tuesday.

What didn’t pass or didn’t get done in Idaho this legislative session?

• Health of the mother legislation: Under Idaho’s strict felony abortion ban, the law does not allow for a doctor to terminate a pregnancy to protect the health of the mother – only to save the mother’s life. Most Americans support an exception to abortion bans that allows for the medical professional to protect the health or save the life of the pregnant patient, the Sun and States Newsroom previously reported. Last year, Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, worked on an unsuccessful bill that would have added an exception “to treat a physical condition of the woman that if left untreated would be life-threatening.” Crane pulled the bill back last year, the Sun previously reported, but vowed to continue working on a compromise on the issue, telling States Newsroom, “It has to be dealt with.” Legislators did not pass a bill this year that created a new exception to protect the health of the pregnant patient.  
• House Bill 753: This bill was a Texas-style immigration bill sponsored by Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, which would have created a new state crime of illegal entry into the state, allowed local law enforcement officials to check a person’s immigration status and allow a magistrate judge to order someone who violates the bill to return to their country of origin. The Idaho House voted 53-15 to pass the bill on March 29, but the Idaho Senate never took up the bill. 
• Senate Concurrent Resolution 135: This was an anti-racism and anti-hate speech resolution condemning the racist harassment allegedly directed at University of Utah women’s basketball team while visiting Coeur d’Alene Resort last month. The Senate voted 33-1 to adopt the resolution March 28, but the Idaho House never took up the resolution, and it died when the legislative session adjourned for the year. 
• Senate Bill 1273: This bill would have required the Idaho secretary of state to mail a new informational voter guide to every household in the state 30 days before an election. The Idaho Senate voted 22-13 to pass the bill on Feb. 26, but the House State Affairs committee never took up the bill after it was referred to the committee in late February. 
• Senate Bill 1445: This additional budget for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare would have provided $545,300 in state funding to provide summer lunches for low income children, Idaho Education News reported. The federal government would have covered half of the administrative costs for the program and 100% of the lunch money, Idaho EdNews reported. But the Idaho Senate rejected the budget on a 10-25 vote March 28 after Sen. Cindy Carlson, R-Riggins, and others said the state would be sending the wrong message by providing something free without requiring something in return. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee rewrote the budget without funding for the summer lunch program, killing the program in Idaho.  
• House Joint Resolution 4: This proposed amendment to the Idaho Constitution was promoted as a way to block ranked choice voting, which is a component of the open primary ballot initiative. The proposed amendment sought to limit elections to one round of voting, with the person with the highest number of votes being elected. But some legislators worried passing the bill would create unintended consequences for nonpartisan judicial primary elections. Amending the Idaho Constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote of both the Idaho House and Idaho Senate. But the proposed amendment died in the Idaho House on March 11 on a 42-27 vote after falling short of the necessary 47 votes. The proposed amendment is now dead for the year.

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Idaho Capital Sun senior reporter Clark Corbin has more than a decade of experience covering Idaho government and politics. He has covered every Idaho legislative session since 2011 gavel-to-gavel.

Prior to joining the Idaho Capital Sun he reported for the Idaho Falls Post Register and Idaho Education News. His reporting in Idaho has helped uncover a multimillion-dollar investment scam and exposed inaccurate data that school districts submitted to the state.

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The preceding article was previously published by the Idaho Capital Sun and is republished with permission.

The Idaho Capital Sun is the Gem State’s newest nonprofit news organization delivering accountability journalism on state politics, health care, tax policy, the environment and more. We’re part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Erin Reed | BOISE, Idaho – On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, most legislatures across the United States were closed for business. However, this was not the case for Idaho’s Committee on State Affairs.

The committee convened to discuss House Bill 384, a bill that could ban LGBTQ+ books, along with many literary classics and, potentially, the Bible in schools and libraries throughout the state. The hearing, which predominantly featured testimony opposing the bill, featured sparring over a clause that could lead to banning books with gay characters.

During one notable exchange, Republican state Rep. Julianne Young argued that the books wouldn’t be banned for featuring gay characters, but rather for “acts” of being gay, which could include hand holding, embracing, or kissing.

The bill revisits a similar book ban passed in the state in 2023. Governor Brad Little vetoed that ban, citing potential unintended consequences for patrons and the risk of libraries facing bankruptcy. The new bill closely mirrors its predecessor, with a small change: it reduces the fine for library violations to $250.

However, this reduction is vastly overshadowed by the inclusion of “legal fees” in successful book challenges; such fees could easily stretch into the tens of thousands of dollars. This critique was raised by multiple people testifying on behalf of libraries, especially considering the propensity of organizations like the Alliance Defending Freedom to file lawsuits nationwide. Those testifying emphasized that these fees could lead to the bankruptcy of many libraries.

Of particular concern in the bill is the inclusion of a statute that bans, among other things, books that contain gay characters as automatically being sexually explicit. Multiple people pointed out that LGBTQ+ representation in books is important to library patrons of all ages, and that books with two dads or two moms should not be barred from the library. In response, Representative Julliane Young claimed that the book ban did not ban gay characters, but rather, only banned “acts” of being homosexuality. Watch the interaction here:

The bill indeed bans “acts” of homosexuality, a term that is left undefined in the provision being cited. Are two gay characters holding hands an “act” of homosexuality? What about two gay characters sharing an embrace, or a kiss? Later in the same hearing, one of the few people speaking in favor of the bill stated that this bill was needed to prevent books with “two men kissing.” Others called LGBTQ+ books “grooming books,” implying that the law is intended to bar all books with LGBTQ+ characters in them.

You can see the provision here, which includes “homosexuality” is automatically defined as sexual conduct among things like pedophilia and bestiality:

This specific term has surfaced elsewhere in the past year. In Murfreesboro, TN, a similar provision prohibited “acts of homosexuality” within the city, first reported by Erin In The Morning. This led to the city’s Pride parade nearly being cancelled after threats from the city; it was only after a legal battle that the parade organizers were granted permission to proceed. The ordinance garnered national attention, briefly branding Murfreesboro as the city that outlawed being gay in public for a period of time; that provision has since been removed after a unanimous vote to strike it from code. Similar statutes exist in other states, including Idaho. However, enforcement of this aspect of the law has been nonexistent since the Supreme Court’s legalization of sodomy in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003.

The bill faced fierce opposition. Most who spoke out against it represented either libraries or parents who desire their children to have access to books that include LGBTQ+ characters. One of the strongest testimonies came from Isabella, a college student and associate librarian, who stated, “Representatives, the homophobia in this bill is blatant. The definition of sexual conduct is incorrect… homosexuality does not equate to obscenity. It is your choice to sexualize children’s books… Gay people will not go away, you cannot erase us with this bill,” who then added, “Come to storytime, hop on a bookmobile, see what evil you are supposedly fighting.”

See Isabella’s testimony here:

In a major federal ruling in Iowa in the end of 2023, the judge found that a similar law would not only target LGBTQ+ content, but also many literary classics, ultimately ruling the new law unconstitutional. Some of these classics include Ulysses, As I Lay Dying, Slaughterhouse Five, Brave New World, and more. Some schools and libraries were forced to remove up to 500 books by the law passed there; similar ramifications could arise in Idaho should the bill pass into law.

Despite significant opposition, the bill moved through the committee along party lines, with 11 Republicans voting in favor and 2 Democrats opposing. It will now advance to the full Idaho House floor, where it stands as a potential early legislative action by the state and could become one of the first anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed in 2024. This year has already witnessed the introduction of over 200 anti-LGBTQ+ bills within the first 15 days, and this bill serves a stark reminder that Republicans are not finished targeting LGBTQ+ people in state legislatures nationwide.

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Erin Reed is a transgender woman (she/her pronouns) and researcher who tracks anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the world and helps people become better advocates for their queer family, friends, colleagues, and community. Reed also is a social media consultant and public speaker.

Follow her on Twitter (Link)

Website here: https://www.erininthemorning.com/

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The preceding article was first published at Erin In The Morning and is republished with permission.

BOISE — Idaho’s Republican Governor Brad Little signed a bill Tuesday night that bans gender-affirming care for trans youth and provides criminal penalties. House Bill 71 also stipulates that physicians who provide gender-affirming healthcare can face felony charges and upon conviction a potential prison sentence of up to ten years.

The Associated Press reported that the law, which takes effect on January 1, 2024, makes it a felony to provide hormones, puberty blockers or other gender-affirming care to people under age 18.

Opponents of the legislation have warned it will likely increase suicide rates among teens, but proponents of the bill said it was necessary to “protect children” from medical or surgical treatments for gender dysphoria. Still, supporters have acknowledged there has been no indication that gender-affirming surgeries are being performed on transgender youth in Idaho, the AP noted.

“This bill goes against decades of expert guidance on best-practice transgender medical care and allows the government to override personal medical decisions made between patients, their doctors, and their parents,” said Kasey Suffredini, Vice President of Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project.

“The Trevor Project’s research found that 60% of trans and nonbinary youth in Idaho seriously considered suicide in the past year, and 27% made an attempt. Trans youth are not inherently prone to suicide risk, but rather placed at heightened risk because of how they are mistreated in society. Lawmakers should be prioritizing efforts to protect the health and well-being of Idaho’s young people – not passing laws to isolate trans and nonbinary youth further. We will continue fighting back against these dangerous efforts, along with our partners and allies on the ground. For young people in Idaho – or anywhere else – who may be feeling scared or overwhelmed by this news, The Trevor Project has your back. Our counselors are here for you 24/7.”

KTVB reports:

By Kelcie Moseley-Morris | BOISE – A bill that would ban drag performances in all public venues will be introduced in the first days of the next session of the Idaho Legislature in January, Idaho Family Policy Center President Blaine Conzatti told the Idaho Capital Sun.

Conzatti and other conservative activists around Idaho and across the country have protested against events in public spaces that feature drag queens, including drag queen story hour events at public libraries. In September, Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon called for people to pressure corporate sponsors of Boise Pride to pull their names from sponsorship at the event over a scheduled “Drag Kids” performance for ages 11 to 18, which was ultimately postponed over safety concerns.

Conzatti said the draft bill is ready to be introduced as soon as the session gets underway but declined to share the text of the bill with the Sun and wouldn’t name the legislators who worked on it with him.

“No child should ever be exposed to sexual exhibitions like drag shows in public places, whether that’s at a public library or a public park,” he said.

Conzatti also cites a drag performance in Coeur d’Alene in June as another example of public indecency, when a performer was accused of exposing himself during a Pride in the Park event. After complaints, the local prosecutor’s office determined the video was edited to look like the performer had exposed himself when he had not. The performer has since filed a defamation lawsuit against North Idaho blogger Summer Bushnell over the incident, according to reporting from the Coeur d’Alene Press.

Group cites section of Idaho Constitution as basis for law

The Idaho Family Policy Center circulated a petition leading up to Boise Pride asking state lawmakers to prohibit drag performances from public places, citing a section of the Idaho Constitution that states the first concern of all good government is the virtue and sobriety of the people and the purity of the home. It says the Legislature should “further all wise and well-directed efforts for the promotion of temperance and morality.”

“There were many Supreme Court decisions from the 19th century dealing with public virtue and how sexual practices should not take place in public because it degraded public virtue,” Conzatti said.

In Conzatti’s opinion, drag is inherently a sexualized caricature of gender, which he compared to racist blackface practices that were a common practice in theater up until the last 50 years. He recognized that might be an offensive comparison to some. 

“You overemphasize certain natural characteristics so much that it becomes a caricature of itself,” he said.

More than 3,500 people signed the petition, according to a newsletter from the Idaho Family Policy Center, and more than 26,000 emails were sent to corporate sponsors of Boise Pride over the course of a day and a half.

Longtime drag performer says sexualized characterizations are insulting

Boise resident Crispin Gravatt has performed drag for more than a decade under the stage name Penelope Windsor in all types of venues, including drag story time at libraries and at Boise Pride in September. 

“At its core, drag is art, and art can be powerful,” Gravatt said. “For a lot of us it’s a way to be part of a community and do something fun and creative. For me and for my friends, it’s kind of like art therapy, the same kind of thing we see with veterans or abuse survivors. It’s a way we can find joy and work through some of the challenges in a world that can be challenging at times for people like me.” 

To Gravatt, drag is no different from original Shakespearean theater performances when men played women on stage and women played men, or the way a clown entertains a crowd. The misinformation about drag that is spreading is harmful, they said, because many people don’t know what drag actually is and end up believing something that isn’t true.

“It’s a little insulting that these folks think people like me don’t know how to act appropriately for where we’re at,” they said. “In my experience being in this community performing, producing, going to shows, and just celebrating who I am and who my community is, it’s weird to see that such a small group of people has made it so far in what they are trying to do, because 99% of people I meet all over the state – they think it’s a either a fun creative outlet or something that may not be for them, but isn’t a threat.” 

Boise Pride director hopes to see pushback if bill is introduced

Boise Pride Executive Director Donald Williamson also received thousands of protesting emails in the days leading up to the event. He said he is aware of the draft bill and thinks it would be a violation of free speech to ban a certain type of performance, despite Conzatti’s assertions that it will be legally defensible if it passes the Legislature and is subsequently challenged in court.

“It’s just wrong on so many levels,” Williamson said. “If you don’t agree with the performances, then you don’t go. It’s just like any other venue. It’s why I don’t go to country music concerts; it’s not my cup of tea.”

Williamson spent several years as a bartender at a drag club in Oregon, and said drag was not built on a sexualized foundation.

“It was meant as a means of expressing your identity that maybe you didn’t have the ability to do in your public life, as a form of expression and empowerment,” he said. “Obviously like any other form of entertainment, there’s going to be some sexualizing in one way or another. … There’s a difference between a drag show that you and I might see if we decided to go see a drag show on a Friday or Saturday night with a cover charge, versus a drag show on a Sunday afternoon at a park in front of the public.”

Williamson said Boise Pride is planning an alternative kids’ drag show at a private venue for a later date so that the performers’ family and friends can attend and the work the performers put in doesn’t go to waste.

If the bill is introduced as planned, Williamson said he expects a lot of pushback, and he hopes those who showed up for Boise Pride will show up to the statehouse or contact their representatives.

“Show up and show out huge, not only when we see this legislation, but any legislation that’s targeting anybody that’s hateful or hurtful and is going to affect vast swaths of the population in a negative way.”

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Kelcie Moseley-Morris is an award-winning journalist who has covered many topics across Idaho since 2011. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Idaho and a master’s degree in public administration from Boise State University. Moseley-Morris started her journalism career at the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, followed by the Lewiston Tribune and the Idaho Press.

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The preceding article was previously published by the Idaho Capital Sun and is republished with permission.

The Idaho Capital Sun is the Gem State’s newest nonprofit news organization delivering accountability journalism on state politics, health care, tax policy, the environment and more.

BOISE, Id. – Police have charged a 31-year-old man with four felonies in connection with attacks on Boise’s LGBTQ+ community including an act of arson in Boise’s North End where an LGBTQ+ progress flag was burned.

The Boise Police Department’s LGBTQ Liaison officer Dan Lister told media outlet NBC affiliate KTVB 7 that Boise resident Matthew Lehigh faces three counts of felony aggravated assault. The charges stem from two separate occasions he yelled homophobic slurs and tried to hit three people with his car and a charge of misdemeanor malicious injury to property.

Lehigh also has a felony charge of arson in connection to the incident in Boise’s North End where an LGBTQ+ progress flag was burned. BPD’S Lister told KTVB 7 evidence shows Lehigh could be involved in other recent crimes targeting the LGBTQ+ community, prompting detectives to continue their investigation.

“Since his arrest, we’ve been able to add additional charges of arson in relation to the flag burning that occurred. And we’re continuing our investigation with other recent incidents of targeting. But we have been able to add that charge on to him for the incident that occurred there,” Lister told KTVB 7. “These people are being targeted just for who they are, and it’s not right,” he added.

According to the Boise Police Department press release:

On 10/12/2022 around 2:08 pm Boise Police responded to a report of a hit and run on the 1000 block of N. Americana Blvd.  Evidence showed a male driver yelled a threat and a homophobic slur at two women.  The women were standing next to their vehicle when the suspect intentionally drove his car at them, the women quickly moved out of the way and the suspect’s vehicle struck the victim’s vehicle.  The suspect then fled the scene.

Officers immediately began searching for the suspect and his vehicle.  Detectives from the Violent Crime Unit located the vehicle and the suspect in a parking lot on the 8200 block of W. Fairview Ave. around 4:30 p.m.  The suspect was identified as Matthew Lehigh.

Detectives had been searching for Lehigh since he and his vehicle were involved in another similar incident on 10/8/2022 on the 700 block of S. Capitol Blvd. Evidence showed the suspect hit a victim on the arm and used the same homophobic slur.  A member of the business’ security staff followed the suspect into the parking lot.  Evidence shows the suspect then intentionally drove his vehicle toward the security staff member forcing him to jump out of the way.  The suspect then fled the scene.

Lehigh was booked into the Ada County Jail and charged with three felony counts of aggravated assault and misdemeanor injury to property.

Lister was able to confirm the existence of Lehigh’s YouTube channel, which shows posts just days before his arrest. His videos show him using threatening language against the LGBTQ+ community, specifically gay and transgender citizens.

Lehigh will not be charged with a hate crime KTVB reported. Malicious harassment is the hate crime statute in Idaho, however, this arrest doesn’t fit the wording of the Idaho statute.

Idaho code 18-7902 says malicious harassment targeting includes a “person’s race, color, religion, ancestry, or national origin.” Targeting someone for their sexual orientation or gender identity is not included in the law. Police cannot arrest for it specifically and prosecutors can’t charge, because of how the law is written.

Lehigh was ordered a competency evaluation by the Ada County, Idaho District Court. He has a preliminary trial on Oct. 26.

BOISE, Id. – The Boise Pride Festival, which occurs this weekend, lost three sponsors after the chair of the Idaho Republican Party Dorothy Moon released a statement claiming the companies involved were financing the “sexualization of our children. Organizers also cancelled a family-friendly children’s drag show event.

Moon, a serving member of the Idaho House of Representatives in addition to her GOP chair, has a lengthy record of far-right political ideology. In her statement issued earlier this past week, Moon criticized Boise Pride Festival’s sponsors for encouraging the “sexualization” of children.

Idaho NPR reported that “instead of bringing “investment and jobs” to Idaho,” Moon said, “…they are financing the sexualization of our children and the perverse idea that children should engage in sexual performances with adult entertainers.” The GOP lawmaker was taking specific aim at a kids ages 11-18 drag show that was planned. She said the festival’s sponsors should “disavow this attack on Idaho’s children” and instead redirect their donations to the Boise Rescue Mission.

In a tweet Moon showed a picture of herself outside a Boise branch of Wells Fargo, a sponsor of Boise Pride which did not withdraw its support of the weekend festival.

I closed out my account at @WellsFargo. A real inconvenience, especially in a recession. But Americans have long practiced forms of peaceful civil disobedience. We shouldn’t patronize businesses that are committed to undermining our values or that target the innocence of children pic.twitter.com/F926FbWfmZ

— Dorothy Moon (@moonforidaho) September 9, 2022

As a result of Moon’s statement, the Idaho Statesman newspaper reported that Zions Bank withdrew its sponsorship followed by both Idaho Power and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Zions Bank said it wasn’t aware of the Kids Drag event when it partnered with Boise Pride Festival and withdrew its participation.

Despite that, the bank said its support for its employees and the LGBTQ community “remains unchanged.”

pic.twitter.com/IHBJxFT0wM

— Zions Bank (@ZionsBank) September 7, 2022

Boise Pride later cancelled plans for the drag show telling the paper the decision was made because of safety concerns for the children and their parents.

“The kids who were going to perform have the enthusiastic support of their community and support and consent of their parents,” organizers said in the statement. “We support the kids 1000% and their choice to be themselves, stand their truth and express themselves. They are brave, beautiful and deserve their chance to be in the spotlight, and we want to give that to them at a later date.”

Riley Burrows, co-producer and host of the Drag Kids program, which had been on the schedule for Sunday, said the decision was extremely difficult to make, but security and safety are priorities.

Donald Williamson, executive director of Boise Pride Festival, told Boise State Public Radio in an interview that far-right Republican officials like Moon feel more emboldened after the last several years of pushing anti-LGBTQ legislation.

Boise Pride continues to endorse the sexualization of children & will host the drag kids performance at a “later date”. Concerned citizens should continue to contact any Boise Pride sponsors so long as they openly advocate for children’s participation in sexualized drag culture. https://t.co/FILMRip0JB

— Idaho GOP (@IdahoGOP) September 9, 2022

All performers in Drag Kids have the “enthusiastic” support of their parents, Williamson said, with one participant set to perform alongside their mother.

“The only perversion and sexualization of this performance are coming from extremists and people like Dorothy Moon, who is twisting it into something that it is not.”

Safety issues however, are of real concern after earlier this summer heavily armed Coeur d’Alene police officers and Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies in riot gear arrested armed anti-LGBTQ+ protestors, and a few self-labeled ‘street preachers’ who were attempting to disrupt the “Pride in the Park” in Coeur d’Alene City Park.

Law enforcement arrested 31 people who had face coverings, white-supremacist insignia, shields and an “operations plan” to riot near the LGBTQ Pride event. Lee White, the police chief of the Coeur d’Alene police department said those arrested were affiliated with Patriot Front, a white-supremacist group whose founder was among those arrested.

Boise Police Department spokesperson Haley Williams said police met with Boise Pride event organizers after the Patriot Front arrests. “As with any special event, the Boise Police Department works with event organizers to evaluate the security needs,” Williams said in an email to the Idaho Statesman. “Based on that evaluation and other information, the department makes a plan to staff the event accordingly.”

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean issued a statement about the controversy on Thursday applauding Pride organizers for taking action “to protect everyone who will join in the celebration this weekend.” She also said that “the inflammatory rhetoric of the past few days has put a spotlight on the critical need for our community to have a conversation about standing together in times like these to encourage, embrace and support the diversity and dignity of all people.”

Boise Pride Festival commenced Friday evening at Cecil D. Andrus Park in downtown Boise and runs through Sunday afternoon.

COEUR d’ ALENE, Id. – During a press conference on Monday, Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said that his department has received death threats after arresting thirty-one members of the Patriot Front, listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQ+ white nationalist “hate” group.

White indicated that his department has fielded about 149 calls in the aftermath of the arrests. He said about 50 percent of the calls have been praise from the community, who offer their names and express pride in the department.

“And the other 50 percent — who are completely anonymous, who want nothing more than to scream and yell at us and use some really choice words — offer death threats against myself and other members of the police department merely for doing our jobs,” White said. “Those people obviously remain anonymous.”

Chief White told reporters that his officers and Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies arrested the Patriot Front members along with the group’s founder Dallas-based Thomas Ryan Rousseau in traveling in a U-Haul box truck wearing face coverings, white-supremacist insignia, carrying riot shields and had an “operations plan” to riot near at the LGBTQ “Pride in the Park” in Coeur d’Alene City Park Saturday afternoon.

Chief White said he observed documents in which the group allegedly planned to create a confrontation, including the use of smoke grenades, before retreating down Sherman Avenue.

“It didn’t delineate which group exactly, whether it was police officers or the Pride people, that they were planning to confront,” White said. “It was more vague than that.”

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office released the identities of all 31 who were arrested, all of them charged with one count each of criminal conspiracy and bonded out of custody. It’s unclear if they have all retained attorneys.

Of the entire group, only two were listed as residents of Idaho in the sheriff’s booking report.

The rest of the group included seven individuals from Texas, six from Utah, five from Washington, three from Colorado, two from South Dakota, one from Alabama, one from Wyoming, one from Oregon, one from Illinois, one from Arkansas, and one from Missouri.

Patriot Front was once known as Vanguard America (VA), one of the main organizers of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017, which rebranded after one of its members plowed his car into a crowd of people protesting the white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens.

Authorities received a tip about a “little army” loading into a U-Haul truck at a hotel Saturday afternoon. Local and state law enforcement pulled over the truck about 10 minutes later, White said.

“This one concerned citizen rather than pulling out their phone and recording this for their 15 minutes on YouTube — or Snapchatting it or something like that — took the time to call 911 to report some suspicious activity,” White said.

“And as a result, we likely stopped a riot from happening downtown.”

According to the Kootenai County, Idaho Sheriff’s Office, by Sunday afternoon all 31 men had bonded out of the Kootenai County Jail.  Their names are as follows: 

• Jared Michael Boyce – 27 from Soringville, UT
• Nathan David Brenner – 26 from Lewisville, CO
• Colton Michael Brown – 23 from Rovendale, WA
• Josiah Daniel Buster – 24 from Watauga, TX
• Mishael Joshua Buster – 22 from Spokane, WA
• Devin Wayne Center – 22 from FayetteVille, AR
• Dylan Carter Corio – 21 from Cheyenne, WY
• Winston North Durham – 21 from Genesse, ID
• Joseph Garret Garland – 23 from Freeburg, IL
• Branden Mitchel Haney – 35 from Kaysville, UT
• Richard Jacob Jessop – 21 from Idaho Falls, ID
• James Michael Johnson – 36 from Concrete, WA
• James Julius Johnson – 40 from Sioux Falls, SD
• Connor Patrick Moran – 23 from Watauga, TX
• Kieran Padraig Morris – 27 from Haslet, TX
• Lawrence Alexander Norman – 32 from Prospect, OR
• Justin Michael Oleary – 27 from Des Moines, WA
• Cameron Kathan Pruitt – 23 from Midway, UT
• Forrest Clark Rankin – 28 from Wheat Ridge, CO
• Thomas Ryan Rousseau – 23 from Grape Vine, TX
• Conor James Ryan – 23 – from Thornton, CO
• Spencer Thomas Simpson – 20 from Ellensburg, WA
• Alexander Nicholai Sisenstein – 27 from Midvale, UT
•  Derek Joseph Smith – 24 from Sioux Falls, SD
• Dakota Ray Tabler – 29 from West Valley City, UT
• Steven Derrick Tucker  – 30 from Haslet, TX
• Wesley Evan Van Horn – 34 from Lexington, AL 
• Mitchell Frederick Wagner – 24 from Florissant, MO
• Nathaniel Taylor Whitfield – 24 from Elk Ridge, UT
• Graham Jones Whitsom – 31 from Haslet, TX
• Robert Benjamin Whitted – 22 from Conroe, TX

Idaho Police Receiving Death Threats Following Patriot Front Arrests Near Pride Event:

COEUR d’ ALENE, Id. – Heavily armed Coeur d’Alene police officers and Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies in riot gear arrested armed anti-LGBTQ+ protestors, and a few self-labeled ‘street preachers’ who were attempting to disrupt the “Pride in the Park” in Coeur d’Alene City Park which returned after a two-year hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Associated Press reported that Coeur d’Alene police officers and Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 31 people who had face coverings, white-supremacist insignia, shields and an “operations plan” to riot near an LGBTQ Pride event on Saturday afternoon. Lee White, the police chief of the Coeur d’Alene police department said those arrested were affiliated with Patriot Front, a white-supremacist group whose founder was among those arrested.

Patriot Front was once known as Vanguard America (VA), one of the main organizers of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017.

Authorities received a tip about a “little army” loading into a U-Haul truck at a hotel Saturday afternoon, said Lee. Local and state law enforcement pulled over the truck about 10 minutes later, White said at a news conference.

Many of those arrested were wearing logos representing Patriot Front, which rebranded after one of its members plowed his car into a crowd of people protesting the white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens.

Following the arrests of 31 Patriot Front members, Chief Of Police Lee White and Sheriff Bob Norris held a prompt press conference describing how a “telephone call from a concerned citizen” was what prompted a traffic stop leading to them finding and arresting the men. pic.twitter.com/ZAwnk7F6ak

— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) June 12, 2022

Idaho Police Arrest 31 White Nationalists In Back of U-Haul:

Also creating concern for law enforcement and the Pride Alliance which sponsored the event was the counter-Pride rally held by the North Idaho motorcycle club, Panhandle Patriots Riding Club, which had announced the rally last month on the group’s Facebook page.

Spokane, Washington’s ABC News affiliate KXLY 4 reporter Elenee Dao retweeted images of those detained by law enforcement from her colleague Aodhan Brown.

By looking up insignias and attire it looks like these men are all fascist Patriot Front members. @kxly4news https://t.co/T9CiQ0HH1W pic.twitter.com/QsqYwJwQao

— Aodhan Brown (@_ab_photojourn) June 11, 2022

BREAKING: Several people are in handcuffs here on the corner of Northwest Blvd and Garden Ave in Coeur d’Alene. There are sheriff SWAT members.

Working on getting more info. @kxly4news pic.twitter.com/h8PBLldSEQ

— Elenee Dao KXLY (@Elenee_Dao) June 11, 2022

One mom I spoke says she’s trying to enjoy the event with her kids.

She says it’s important to be here, given today’s climate & the laws politicians are trying to pass re: LGBTQ+ rights.

To see those walking around with rifles with kids around is unsettling for her. @kxly4news pic.twitter.com/GghI6mTALS

— Elenee Dao KXLY (@Elenee_Dao) June 11, 2022

People are enjoying themselves out here, regardless of the protesters.

A few people I talked with say this is their first pride festival because of COVID. They’re happy to celebrate their beliefs with others and don’t feel so alone. @kxly4news pic.twitter.com/a1b4JspBNT

— Elenee Dao KXLY (@Elenee_Dao) June 11, 2022

Freelance journalist Ford Fischer also recorded some of the protestors as they moved through downtown Coeur d’Alene:

Live: Protesters, some armed, rally against pride event in Coeur d’Alene https://t.co/MSnv6bcrRH

— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) June 11, 2022

Fran Hutchins, Executive Director of Equality Federation reacted to the news of the arrests in a press statement provided to the Blade:

“This is beyond terrifying. These white supremacists traveled to Idaho specifically to harm LGBTQ+ people. This isn’t a random event. This is what happens when legislators pass laws saying it is okay to discriminate against and cause substantial harm to LGBTQ+ people, particularly transgender young people. 

The mere existence of LGBTQ+ people is under increasing attack from violent and extremist politicians and their supporters. When our states and towns make it illegal for trans youth to play sports or receive gender-affirming care, anti-LGBTQ+ individuals feel empowered. 

These extremists drove from 11 different states to terrorize LGBTQ+ people. Just weeks ago, another white supremacist drove all the way to a Buffalo supermarket to murder Black people. Over a year ago, fascists and white supremacists tried to violently take over our nation’s capital. And exactly six years ago today, 49 lives were stolen from us in the deadliest attack on LGBTQ+ people in our country’s history. 

Racism, domestic terrorism, anti-LGBTQ+ violence – some of the greatest threats in America are all inextricably linked. We cannot stand by as white supremacists try to violently grasp onto their last remaining strings of power. By coming together, we can elect leaders who know our worth and are willing to prove it by passing legislation to save all of our lives and protect us from this violence and hatred.”

BOISE, Id. – Senate Republicans in Idaho Tuesday killed a bill that would have made gender-affirming care a felony, with those convicted having to serve up to a life sentence. 

In a statement, Idaho Senate Republicans said they “stongly” oppose “any and all gender reassignment and surgical manipulation of the natural sex” on minors. But they also wrote that the controversial legislation “undermines” a parent’s right to make medical decisions for their children.  

“We believe in parents’ rights and that the best decisions regarding medical treatment options for children are made by parents, with the benefit of their physician’s advice and expertise,” the senators wrote. 

H.B. 675, which passed the Idaho House of Representatives by a nearly party-line vote of 55-13, would have made it a felony — punishable by up to life in prison — to provide minors with hormones, puberty blockers or gender-affirming surgery – though surgeries generally aren’t performed on Trans and nonbinary youth. It would build on an existing Idaho law, established in 2019, that banned “female genital mutilation,” targetting rituals in some faiths.

The legislation included some exceptions, including when a procedure is deemed “necessary to the health of the person on whom it is performed.” There was also a carve-out for performing surgeries on intersex individuals, even as intersex people advocate to end such procedures on infants.

In their statement, the senators also said that the bill was “counterindicated” by the Idaho Medical Association (IMA), which confirmed that gender-affirming surgeries on youth do not occur in Idaho. Major medical groups, like the American Medical Association, generally oppose legislation that bans or criminalizes gender-affirming care. 

The statement also cited the measure’s vague language, saying that its current form “could be interpreted to extend into the realm of medically necessary care for kids that is in no way related to transgender therapy.” It added: “The bill worked to carve out this area of care, unfortunately it falls short by limiting it to verifiable genetic disorders.”

Republican Rep. Bruce Skaug, who sponsored the legislation, did not immediately return the Blade’s request for comment.  

The bill was one of several efforts from GOP politicians to keep Trans and nonbinary youth from receiving gender-affirming care. 

In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued a directive that required the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to investigate gender-affirming care as “child abuse,” while also mandating licensed professionals and general citizens report the procedures or face “criminal penalties.” A spokesperson for the Texas DFPS confirmed to CNN last week that the state has opened nine alleged “abuse” investigations of minors receiving gender-affirming care.

Meanwhile, Alabama lawmakers are considering a similar bill that would make it illegal to provide minors with gender-affirming puberty-blockers, hormones or surgeries. It cleared the Senate in a 24-6 vote and is set to be debated in the House this week.

BOISE, Id. – The Idaho House of Representatives approved Tuesday a bill making gender-affirming care a felony, with those convicted having to serve up to a life sentence. 

H.B. 675 passed the lower chamber by a vote of 55-13, nearly on party lines. One Republican, Rep. Fred Wood – the House’s only physician – joined Democrats in voting against the bill. The measure now heads to the state’s Senate, which is controlled by Republicans.

The Republican Rep. Bruce Skaug-sponsored legislation would make it a felony to provide minors with hormones, puberty blockers or gender-affirming surgery – though surgeries generally aren’t performed on Trans and nonbinary youth. It would build on an existing Idaho law, established in 2019, that banned “female genital mutilation,” targetting rituals in some faiths.

Anyone who provides gender-affirming care or surgery “for the purpose of attempting to change or affirm the child’s perception of the child’s sex if that perception is inconsistent with the child’s biological sex,” would be guilty of a felony, punishable by up to life in prison.

The legislation includes some exceptions, including when a procedure is deemed “necessary to the health of the person on whom it is performed.” There is also a carve-out for performing surgeries on intersex individuals, even as intersex people advocate to end such procedures on infants.

Meanwhile, the lower chamber is also considering a bill allowing prosecutors to criminally charge librarians who allow minors to check out “sexually explicit” materials, which some warn could apply to LGBTQ-themed books. 

The gender-affirming care legislation passed as Texas agencies began to investigate gender-affirming surgery on minors as “child abuse” after an order from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and an official opinion from Attorney General Ken Paxton. Texas Children’s Hospital, the largest pediatric hospital in the U.S., announced that it would no longer offer gender-affirming care last week due to the actions.

In addition, Alabama lawmakers are considering a similar piece of legislation that would make it illegal to provide minors with gender-affirming puberty-blockers, hormones or surgeries.

“We need to stop sterilizing and mutilating children under the age of 18,” Skaug said on the floor, arguing his bill would protect “boys and girls who have their genitals mutilated by chemicals or surgery for purposes of changing their birth sex.”

But opponents of the legislation, including some who have Trans relatives or friends, pushed back against Skaug’s bill. 

“This is the heaviest imaginable hand of government overriding family decisions on the most critical and frankly in many cases life-threatening questions,” said Rep. Ilana Rubel (D), who has a teenage child who identifies as Trans, adding that “transition becomes much more difficult” after puberty. 

“This is obviously not a step that a family takes lightly. This is a step that comes after literally thousands of hours of agonizing,” she said.

Top nationwide LGBTQ+ groups also condemned the House’s passage of the measure, including the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest LGBTQ+ rights group in the country.

“Every kid in Idaho deserves the chance to grow up feeling safe and respected for who they are,” said Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior counsel at the HRC. “Denying someone medically-necessary health care simply because you don’t approve of who they are is textbook discrimination. Decisions about what kind of care is appropriate for young people should be left up to the young person and their parents, in consultation with health care professionals, not by politicians looking to score political points at the expense of the well-being of transgender youth.”
According to a recent study published in JAMA Network, gender-affirming care for Trans youth reduces moderate or severe depression by 60% and suicidality by 73%.