CRY WOLF

Sponsors Abandon Idaho Pride Festival After GOPer Freaks Over Drag Show

A Republican lawmaker went after companies for supporting an entirely voluntary community event that she felt was an “attack on Idaho’s children.”

Sponsors have been pulling out of the Boise Pride Festival this weekend after a local Republican flew into a rage over the fact there would be a children’s drag show. Idaho Republican Party chairwoman Dorothy Moon blasted Boise Mayor Lauren McLean and supporting organizations for “financing the sexualization of our children and the perverse idea that children should engage in sexual performances with adult entertainers,” downplaying the artistic nature of drag and accusing it of focusing on sexual orientation. Police have also had to increase security measures ahead of this year’s festival after white nationalists attempted to disrupt a pride event in June. “It was very scary and very alarming,” Boise Pride Festival Vice President Joseph Kibbe said after 31 members of the group Patriot Front were arrested. “Those individuals do not stand for what Idaho represents.”