On Tuesday, LGBTQ+ rights advocates dropped thousands of paper hearts from the top balcony of the Capitol onto the rotunda floors below to protest legislation they say discriminates against the queer community.
As the colorful paper hearts were flung over the balcony, Jenna Damron said the 48,000 hearts represent the number of Idahoans who identify as LGBTQ+, according to the census, and are affected by the state’s anti-LGBTQ+ bills and laws.
“This represents our families, our identities, and it represents the fact that we will continue to care for each other and ourselves, no matter what happens in this building,” she said.
Damron spoke against the more than 20 bills introduced in Idaho this session, and 500 nationwide, she said targets LGBTQ+ people’s wellbeing and existence.
“As this legislature continues to pass bills that strip rights and legal protections from our community, and our governor continues to sign these bills into law, we will continue to care for our own,” she said.
Darmon said the hearts were handcrafted by people from 18 cities across the state. Many had messages like “stop the hate” and “you cannot legislate us out of existence” handwritten on them.
“I'm sitting under 48,000 hearts that have flown through the air underneath the rotunda and here on the ground,” said Ahniah Selene, a community member who attended the event. “It's a beautiful representation of a people who are marginalized and who have been victimized by our legislature.”
Selene added many would lose access to vital healthcare if a bill banning public funds for covering gender-affirming health care were signed into law, including themselves.
“These are medical issues that should not be decided in the legislature by non-medical people,” they added.
Following the paper drop, about a dozen people who came with Damron quickly picked up the thick layer of hearts strewn across the floor and wedged atop columns.
“This is a labor of love and we will not quit. We will not stop taking care of each other. We will always take care of us,” said Damron. ”We will not leave any of our 48,000 hearts behind.”
Idaho lawmakers are also considering legislation that redefines sex in Idaho code as either male or female, which advocates say erases the lived experience of intersex, transgender and nonbinary people.
