STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Jenny Jordan shot a bevy of bubbles out of a bubble gun as her sister Jamie Jordan and Megan Schooley danced around the Sawtooth Botanical Garden waving bubble wands through the air.
“It’s like confetti without having to clean up!” said Jamie Jordan.
The bubble blowing was a lighthearted exercise in keeping with the rainbow arches and rainbow of floral blooms coloring the garden. And Jordan was happy to see that the Pride that her childhood home embraced.
“I took part in a Pride Festival in Gettysburg Square where I go to the University of Gettysburg. And it was so fun with all the music and the speakers. I’m happy to see we have something like that in my hometown.”
Indeed, this was the third year for Pride in the Garden, which has grown to a full week of live music, entertainment, a film and a Pride Bike Ride.
And those who took their place at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden Wednesday evening settled in for an evening of fun and merriment, colorful outfits, live music from Dr. Tom Archie’s Doghaus, a picnic served up by Esta and topped off by Toni’s Ice Cream and the chance to greet one another over wine and beer and, yes, bubbles.
But, whereas the first two Pride in the Garden Festivals majored on fun and games, this one had a subdued tone, what with the LGBTQ+ community watching lawmakers across the country try to take away such rights as gender-affirming care and even gay marriage, which was legalized in 2016.
Jeff Meyer and Pedro Manuel Ortiz said that concern about the future had prompted them to get married after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in June 2022. The two had been together for four years before making that trip down the aisle.
Ortiz said he was thankful for the Pride in the Garden Festival because it’s a reminder that, just as plants have biological differences, so do people.
“We’re happy that we live in a community as accepting as ours,” he said. “And we love this event. The garden is a natural venue for accepting persons of different backgrounds.”
“The garden celebrates diversity,” added the garden’s executive director Jen Smith. “It’s real cool to see people come to the garden and say, ‘I feel better about the world.’ ”
Charlie Fowler told festival-goers that 450 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in state legislatures this year—twice the number introduced in 2022. And 75 of those became law.
They threaten the progress made since June 28, 1969, which was “a watershed moment that changed the history of LGBTQ+ in the nation, in the world,” he added.
That was when police decided to raid the Stonewall Inn gay bar in Greenwich Village. They had done so periodically, arresting and beating its patrons. But that night the gay community fought back and two days of street protests followed.
“If not for them, we probably wouldn’t be here today,” Fowler said. “All they were asking for was to live openly without fear of arrest—so radical.”
Cox recited the progress made since: The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses in 1973. In 2004 the Supreme Court struck down laws criminalizing homosexuality. The military began allowing homosexuals to serve openly in 2011. And, he said, companies like Cox Communications, which helped sponsor Pride in the Garden, not only give thousands of dollars to LGBTQ+ causes but hire employees at every level of the company.
“But the pendulum swings in this country and right now it’s swinging to the dark side. Our community is under attack, especially the trans community. We’re being used as political scapegoats,” he said.
“But it’s not our first time at the rodeo. We will let our light shine. We will continue to love. We will continue to be authentic. We are your sons and daughters. We are your co-workers… We are not boogeymen that can be demonized. Live life authentically because we shall overcome,” he said, breaking out into the famous Civil Rights song:
“Deep in my heart I do believe we shall overcome some day.”
As Karen Morrison and Rachel Gutierrez broke out cupcakes boasting a rainbow of icing colors—a small miracle given Albertsons cupcake shortage, Gutierrez said--the crowd peppered drag queen J Lo and Rep. Ned Burns with questions.
What is drag? What’s your opinion on carrying guns to ward off the threat of violence? Why is the Idaho legislature so hateful towards trans people?
Drag is a celebration—deep down you have to understand yourself before you can embody another person, the audience was told.
“Drag has helped me discover who I am and not be afraid of things although I’m still a little timid,” one performer told the audience. “It a way for me to express myself and do more with a persona than I would normally do. Anyone can do drag—it’s just a costume.”
Burns lamented the animosity that some legislators have displayed towards trans people, especially since that population is at increased risk for suicide, he said.
He said that the Nampa representative leading the charge claims to be a God-fearing man.
“But my uncle was a Lutheran pastor and the Bible I grew up with is not the Bible he’s reading,” he adding. “It’s terrifying. I just want people to live their lives.”
As for carrying guns? J Lo would have none of it, given the LBGTQ+ mantra of love: “Combatting hate with hate takes us nowhere.”
Pride Week concludes on Saturday with a free Pride Ride bike parade starting at the Upper River Run parking lot at 11 a.m., complete with tacos and sodas at Despo’s. Also on tap: Drag Bingo at 5 p.m. at The Mint in Hailey. Cards cost $30 and $20.