BOISE, Idaho — June is Pride Month; a time to honor and celebrate our LGBTQ+ community.
"It means me freedom," Boise Pride Festival’s Vice President, Joseph Kibbie said.
Metropolitan Community Church, Judy Croff said, "It's a celebration of all types of people."
There are many events happening across the state, but one tradition Boise has held close to is the Pride Flags on Harrison Boulevard.
“We are one community with a bunch of different viewpoints and different points of view," Vice President of the North End Neighborhood Association, Erick Hagen said, "and being able to share that and express it in this way is very important to us.”
The tradition has been brightening up Harrison Boulevard since it was first started in June of 2016.
"People walk the sidewalks, express gratitude, and feel excited when we put the pride flags up," Kibbie said. "It's just a way to display solidarity.”
Harrison Boulevard is historically known for its neighborhood and community culture and gets many visitors each day.
"It has a lot to do with the culture of this area," Kibbie said, "people tend to be open, honest, accepting and love the diversity. You'll see flags on people's homes. It's been a safe place to do this, until the last couple of years."
In 2020, these flags started getting vandalized; an act that has continued time after time. The most recent incident happened at the beginning of June.
"Two years ago, there was maybe one flag missing or a pole. Last year we had to replace the flags three times,” Croff said. "This year, in the first week, they were more disruptive than any time last year."
Even with the amount of destruction it’s received, the community has stepped in each time to help fix them.
"I feel sad. But a lot of the community and myself, it makes you think about how you respond to these kinds of acts," Kibbie said.
"It actually brings our community together, stronger," Hagen said. "We spend more money buying the flags and get together.”
Now, Boise Pride, the Neighborhood Association, MCC, and the Wassmuths Center are now working on a new yard sign that says, "Idaho is too great for hate".
"Now we want to do something really visible and positive in response to what happened with the flags,” Croff said.
Boise Pride hopes to raise enough money to provide these signs to anyone who would like one.
“We are looking to hopefully raise between $1,000 to 1,500,” Kibbie said. “That will cover the cost of the signs and materials. It should be no cost to individuals at that point."
They hope the signs help send a message of unity.
“It'd be a great way to just continue flying LGBT colors to make the statement that 'we are not gone, we're still around,” Croff said.
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