On Tuesday night, the Boise City Council voted 5 to 1 to pass a resolution that marks the Pride flag as one of three official city flags.
The resolution comes after Mayor Lauren McLean received a threatening letter from the Attorney General urging her to comply with House Bill 96, a new state law prohibiting non-official flags from being flown on government property.
In response, McLean pointed out the law did not come with penalties and announced the council would consider a resolution during Tuesday’s council meeting to recognize the rainbow flag as official. The other two such flags are the city flag and the Donate Life flag in honor of organ donation.
About a hundred people gathered outside City Hall ahead of the meeting, cheering when cars passed and honked. Most were there to support keeping the flag up, like Boise resident Sandy Tregarthen.
“I’m here to just make sure that people feel supported, regardless of who you are,” she said. “You should feel supported and appreciated and welcome here in Boise.”
A couple dozen counter protesters held American flags and signs with messages like “Law and order must prevail” and “Stop advertising your sodomy.”
Bob Coggins said he felt excluded by the LGBTQ+ colors.
“We're just saying that we are proud of being heterosexuals,” he said. “I'm not over confronting, waving it in their face. I'm just standing here voicing my opinion and my love for being a straight male in Boise, Idaho.”
Like many counter protesters, Melodie Ostman said the Pride flag was divisive and the mayor should follow the new state law, adding: “for me personally, it's about government spaces trying to remain neutral and supporting and being a voice for everyone, not just a select few.”
Inside the packed City Council chambers, the members discussed their vote without taking comments from the public. Their discussion was repeatedly interrupted by an angry attendee before continuing without incident.
“You’re a bunch of fricking commies breaking the law,” the flag opponent yelled. “You think gay people are the only people who are entitled to anything?”
Council member Meredith Stead pointed out the city had flown the pride flag for a decade and removing it would not be a neutral gesture.
“It would signal a retreat from values we've long upheld and send a disheartening message to those who have found affirmation and belonging through its presence at City Hall,” she said, adding that recognizing one group did not diminish others.
Council president Colin Nash sponsored the resolution. He said he hoped it would send the message that people can live authentically in Boise.
“We’re in a fight against erasure, whether it's clawing back civil rights progress, whether it's just even acknowledging the existence of gay and trans people in public society,” Nash said. “And the city of Boise is not going to be a party to that erasure.”
Council member Luci Willits said her role as an elected official was to follow the law. She was the only vote against the resolution, saying the process did not allow for compromise,
She suspects “the legislature will come in, and it will slap a huge fine on the city of Boise, and Boise will have to pay it.”
“That will limit what we can spend on things that we have control over, like police and fire and libraries and parks and all the things that make Boise what it is today,” Willits added.
In his April letter to the mayor urging her to remove the flag, Attorney General Raúl Labrador said he had spoken to lawmakers about taking legislative action to deny state tax revenues and other appropriations to the City of Boise.
Mayor McLean said she believed the proclamation would make the flag compliant with state law.
Speaking after the vote, audience member Joel Camacho said keeping the flag up made him feel safe
“Most likely, if I bump into someone in this city, they're going to be accepting and welcoming of me, regardless of who I am,” audience member Joel Camacho said after the vote. “It's an amazing feeling, which apparently it's a luxury sometimes.”
Outside, supporters of the flag reacted to the vote with cheers and songs. One person shouted, “We did it!”
Opponents also reacted, with one taunting Pride flag supporters, “Wait ‘til the feds roll up.”
