Idaho LGBT Since Stonewall: Out in America's Conservative Mecca: 1969- 2010
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Gay in Idaho-The Prequel
On November 2, 1955, The Idaho Daily Statesman published an article titled THREE BOISE MEN ADMIT SEX CHARGES. The resulting furor (now known as Boys of Boise scandal or, more colloquially as just "The Boys of Boise") initially targeted pedophiles but was eventually widened to include all members of the gay community in Idaho.
Because of the scandal and the resulting moral panic, after the Stonewall riots Idaho was the same as Idaho before the riots. The gay community was quiet and withdrawn. The 1971 edition of the national "Gay Guide" said of Idaho that, "This State draws a complete blank, and chances of anything happening are very remote." Members of the GLBT community were quiet and unassuming. Gay life in the state revolved around dinner parties and other private gatherings that were spread by word of mouth.
Now 55 years later all of that has changed...
Timeline
1969 to 1979
| 1971 | Weekly newspaper Intermountain Observer describes quiet gay scene in Boise |
| 1976 | First gay bar in Idaho, known as Shuckey’s, opens in Boise |
| 1976 | MCC congregation organized in Boise |
| 1976 | Gay women’s group called “Connections” begins meeting at YWCA |
| 1977 | Seven female employees of Boise Police Department fired on suspicion of lesbianism, which department claims was damaging to police morale; engenders protests and petition drives from Boise’s gay community, one of the first instances of open gay activism in Idaho; the women fight back with suit in federal court and win settlement |
| 1978 | “Elm Awards” (now “Les Bois Awards”) instituted to recognize achievements in the gay community; after a hiatus in the 1980s, revived in 1992 |
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1980 to 1989
| 1980 | Imperial Sovereign Gem Court of Idaho organized (drag court) |
| 1983 | Gay community center organized in Boise (still in operation in 2009; http://www.tccidaho.org) |
| 1984 | The Community Center starts monthly gay newspaper, now called Diversity |
| 1985 | First AIDS case reported in Idaho |
| 1986 | First PFLAG chapter organized in Idaho |
| 1986 | A motion picture with explicit gay theme screened for first time in Boise; tickets sold on subscription basis in advance to guarantee its commercial viability. (The movie was “Desert Hearts”) |
| 1988 | Gay Rodeo Association of Idaho organized |
| 1989 | The building housing Idaho's first gay bar burns to the ground. |
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1990 to 1999
| 1990 | First Gay Pride rally and march in Boise |
| 1992 | Tom Spanbauer’s novel, “The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon” published by Atlantic Monthly Press; first major novel to address an Idaho gay theme |
| 1993 | First Gay Pride rally held in Moscow, Idaho |
| 1994 | “No on One” campaign organized by gay community and allies instrumental in defeating Proposition One, an anti-gay initiative on statewide ballot, by slim margin |
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2000 to 2010
| 2001 | First Gay Pride festival held in Pocatello, Idaho |
| 2003 | Idaho’s “infamous crime against nature” law made obsolete by ruling of U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas |
| 2004 | Nicole LeFavour becomes first openly gay person elected to Idaho state legislature |
| 2006 | Idaho constitutional amendment passed by voters declaring marriage only to be between man and a woman |
| 2007 | Former Idaho conservative congressman Larry Craig arrested in a sting in an airport men's room. Craig did no seek reelection in 2008 and subsequently left office in 2009. |
| 2008 | Nicole Lefavour becomes the first out gay person to serve in both houses of the Idaho legislature when she wins election to the Idaho Senate. |
| 2009 | First Gay Pride Week celebrated in Twin Falls, Idaho |
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