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Canyon County's first pride festival sees large turnout

Festival organizer Tom Wheeler said there were easily 2,000 attendees that showed up to the pride event in Nampa on Sunday, despite some community pushback.

NAMPA, Idaho — This story originally appeared in The Idaho Press.

Cars lined the street at Lakeview Park for blocks Sunday at Canyon County’s first-ever pride festival.

Rainbows were everywhere, with some attendees wearing colorful tutus and face paint, while others wore a simple pride flag pin on their shirt. The event was packed, with chatter only momentarily drowned out by musicians on stage as participants walked from booth to booth.

Dozens of attendees waited outside to enter, with hundreds more inside. Festival organizer Tom Wheeler said there were easily 2,000 attendees that showed up Sunday.

The event was also fenced in with added security measures in place. The pride festival faced scrutiny leading up to Sunday, in part because of a press release put out by the city of Nampa nearly two weeks ago that caught the attention — and in some cases ire — of many in the community.

The release stated that the pride festival would go on primarily to protect the first amendment rights of its organizers. It stipulated that the process for park rentals is overseen by the Nampa Parks and Recreation Department and does not require approval from city council.

"The use of the park by this group is not an endorsement of their message or views by the City of Nampa," the release stated.

Additionally, mayor Debbie Kling made a statement in the release that drew backlash on social media, saying that “While this event does not reflect the personal beliefs and convictions of myself, the Nampa City Council, and many living in Nampa who have already reached out to us requesting it be canceled, the advice of our legal counsel was that the City of Nampa must recognize the protected first amendment rights of those scheduling and involved in this event.”

The city of Nampa has not provided the Idaho Press exact details on the community complaints that Kling referred to, nor the exact number of complaints the city received and how they were delivered to the city.

Sunday's pride festival did in fact see protesters, some of which argued with attendees. Expletives were exchanged in some heated moments.

Nampa Police Department officers stood outside the event, surveilling for any conflicts.

NPD Community Engagement Coordinator Carmen Boeger said that the event went smoothly without notable incidents.

The NPD had six officers staffed at the event and two traffic officers. Boeger said there were a few small groups of protesters on hand.

Overall, Boeger thanked the community for keeping things civil.

Wheeler said that they were well prepared to handle security and saw fewer protesters than they expected.

Protesters with "Mass Resistance," an anti-LGBTQ+ advocacy group, held signs that read “No Pride in Idaho.”

Protester Paul Townsend is a Caldwell resident and has lived there for over 15 years. He came to protest the event after hearing about it online just a few days prior.

Townsend’s main concern was that the event doesn’t agree with the bible.

“God says that gender is established by birth, by God,” he said. “Anything that deviates from that is not normal.”

Townsend said he wasn’t there to hate people.

“They hate themselves and they want to be some other gender,” he said about transgender people.

Peyton Shollenbarger is vice president of the Boise Trans Collective, a group that supports LGBTQ+ individuals seeking gender-affirming care. Shollenbarger said the group first began in 2022 as a way to fundraise for the founder’s gender-affirming surgery. Now, they are seeking to support other trans people in the community.

Shollenbarger had negative comments regarding Kling and said that the mayor didn't have to say anything at all in the Nampa news release.

Overall, Shollenbarger thought the press release gave the event more publicity.

“The communal uproar against the press release has just made this a way bigger and more special event,” Shollenbarger said.

Volunteer Stephanie Johnson also found that there was a bigger crowd attending after the mayor made the statement. Johnson was frustrated with the mayor’s comment, as everyone has the constitutional right to host events like the pride festival.

“No one’s going to be happy with what everyone's doing,” she said. “But I think it goes back to — we are the land of the free and the land to have your own religion, to have your own family.”

Still Johnson noted that most people at the park had been friendly and supportive.

Shollenbarger said while Boise Trans Collective has held events in Canyon County and across the Treasure Valley, they make it a point to host them for all ages, as youth are in a phase where they have limited control over their lives. It can be valuable for them to see representation, Shollenbarger said.

“For me, pride is deeply personal, but also communal,” Shollenbarger said. “Existence is resistance. (Coming together) as a community is more important than any words that anyone could critique.”

Having successfully pulled Sunday’s event off, Wheeler said he looks forward to debriefing with his team, and planning for an even better year two.

Wheeler noted the importance of pride events, particularly in Idaho.

“We're in a state that has a lot of legislation that's being passed to discriminate against LGBTQ people, and so we knew we were going to put it on to raise awareness of our existence, and people came in droves showing that we're here, we exist,” Wheeler said.

As an event meant to celebrate community, Wheeler thinks Canyon’s first pride did just that.

“We heard so many youths say, ‘I did not know people would be here,’” he said. “We had to share the message that, ‘look around and see your community.’ Just letting people know we belong here.”

This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com

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