As sponsors drop out, Boise Pride Festival drops Drag Kids event over safety concerns

Boise Pride Festival organizers have dropped a Drag Kids event from this weekend’s annual celebration after at least three sponsors announced they were withdrawing support.

Zions Bank withdrew its sponsorship on Wednesday, and on Thursday both Idaho Power and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare followed suit.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, Pride organizers said the decision to postpone Drag Kids 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.

Zions Bank, Idaho Power and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare no longer appear as sponsors on the Boise Pride Festival website. Zions Bank and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare issued statements regarding the decision, as did Idaho Power, which wrote, “Due to programming changes that occurred after our sponsorship and concerns for the safety of our employees and volunteers, we have withdrawn our participation in the Boise Pride event.”

Idaho Power has not responded to additional questions from the Statesman about which programming changes led to the decision.

Boise Pride organizers told the Statesman on Thursday afternoon they could not confirm “at this time” how many total sponsors had withdrawn.

CapEd Credit Union announced on Friday it would also withdraw from the festival because it was unaware of “events involving minors,” making it the fourth sponsor to publicly cancel its participation. Idaho Central Credit Union also withdrew its sponsorship Friday. Pride organizers had already dropped the Drag Kids show by the time these sponsors backed out.

Zions Bank withdrew the same day that new Idaho Republican Party Chair Dorothy Moon released a statement claiming the companies involved were financing the “sexualization of our children,” the Idaho Statesman previously reported. The Idaho GOP, which for years has fought efforts to add the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to state anti-discrimination law, put out another statement Thursday denouncing Pride’s sponsoring companies.

The director of Health and Welfare, Dave Jeppesen, sent a letter on Thursday to Donald Williamson, Boise Pride Festival director, announcing the department’s decision to withdraw.

“DHW’s sponsorship of Boise Pride 2022 has led to some confusion about whether DHW endorses specific event activities involving minors during this event,” Jeppesen said in the letter. “To avoid any confusion regarding DHW’s support of such activities, DHW is withdrawing both of its Orange Level sponsorships and Project Filter will no longer be supporting a booth at the event this weekend.”

Project Filter is a tobacco prevention and cessation program.

Health and Welfare’s move came despite the department’s long history of participating in the Boise Pride Festival, according to Greg Stahl, a communications officer.

Williamson said Wednesday on Twitter that people opposed to the Drag Kids event were “twisting it into something it is not.”

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.”

Simplot, Blue Cross continue sponsorship

At least two companies issued public statements in support of the Boise Pride Festival.

J.R. Simplot Co. issued a statement on Thursday evening, standing with Boise Pride. The company said it is a longtime supporter of Boise Pride and other events that promote and protect diversity, equity and inclusion.

“Simplot will continue to support our LGBTQI+ employees,” the statement read.

Blue Cross of Idaho echoed Simplot’s statements on Friday morning in a news release.

“Blue Cross of Idaho is happy to sponsor Boise Pride and supports an inclusive community where all Idahoans feel welcome,” read its release. “Like all sponsors at Pride, we are not part of the creation or approval of the program for the festival. We participate in Pride as part of our support for the LGBTQ+ community, our employees and their families. We will always oppose discrimination and exploitation of any kind and hope recent changes to the program made by Pride will help return the focus on inclusion and acceptance.”

Boise Pride also picked up further sponsors from the ranks of the Idaho Democratic Party.

In a news release Friday, state Sen. Melissa Wintrow and Reps. Ilana Rubel, Chris Mathias and Lauren Necochea pledged their financial support “in the wake of the false, dangerous claims from Idaho GOP Chair Dorothy Moon that stoke violence.”

The release stated that even though the Drag Kids event was “removed from the program, Moon has not withdrawn her attack on the Boise Pride Festival.”

“Our LGBTQ community is under attack right now, and we want them to know that we proudly stand with them,” Rubel said.

Added Wintrow: “It is disgraceful that the GOP chair who defended a legislator convicted of raping a 19-year-old woman is bringing hate and bigotry in an attempt to sabotage this celebratory event. This is not about protecting children. This is Dorothy exploiting kids for her own political gain.”

The three-day Boise Pride Festival remains packed with performances and events, including the biggest parade in its history Sunday morning and a larger amount of vendors than it’s ever had. It kicks off Friday night at 6 p.m. at Cecil Andrus Park with a performance from Boise’s Rocci Johnson Band.