During a month meant to uplift and protect a historically marginalized community, a bar owner in Boise is planning a two-day event that pretends to be a celebration, but is really a thinly veiled attack on LGBTQ+ people.

Mark Fitzpatrick, owner of the Old State Saloon, is organizing “Hetero Awesome Fest” directly across from the Idaho Capitol during Pride Month. He claims it’s about “faith, family, and freedom,” but his own words betray the true intent.

He has said Pride Month exists so LGBTQ+ people can “march down the street doing disgusting and criminal activities,” and that the community “encourages children to cut off their sex organs.”

That isn’t family values. That’s hate.

This isn’t about celebrating straight people, it’s about silencing queer ones. It’s about hijacking a month that offers visibility, safety, and community to those who are often denied all three. Fitzpatrick has never attended Boise Pride, yet he claims to know what goes on there. He’s even launched a nonprofit—“Heterosexual Awesomeness Inc.”—to legitimize this festival, but no amount of rebranding can disguise what it really is: a political stunt fueled by bigotry.

Idaho deserves better than a platform for harmful rhetoric disguised as “celebration.” Pride exists not to tear anyone down, but to lift up those who’ve been hurt and excluded. Fitzpatrick’s fest does the opposite—it punches down under the guise of “tradition.”

We call on Boise city officials, local vendors, and the Idaho Capitol Commission to refuse support, space, or legitimacy to this harmful event. We urge community members to stand with love and inclusion, not intolerance dressed up as “values.”

This isn’t about politics. It’s about decency.

photo: ABC