The North Idaho Pride Alliance supports drag in Idaho! Drag is an artistic expression of feelings, personas and culture – with the purpose of entertaining audiences in safe spaces. Drag is enjoyed by people of all ages, sexualities, gender expressions and backgrounds. 

As an LGBTQIA+ organization, we stand up and support drag performers locally, regionally, and nationally and we’re proud to “Support Drag in Idaho”. 

In January 2023, Senator Ben Toews sponsored a bill to ban drag performances and performers from any and all publicly funded spaces – think your local community college, public library, or other community building. It also prohibits these types of performances in public - think Pride Festivals. This bill allows everyday citizens to report performers, businesses, and organizations and imposes a heavy fine - if voted into law.

The bill luckily didn’t make it out of committee, as it prohibited “artistic expression” and infringed on the arts community. We expect to see a form of this bill again in the upcoming 2024 legislative session with more carefully worded language to make it vague enough to pass the committee.  

But, take a second to realize the implications this bill could have for others in your community, not just the LGBTQIA+ community. Does your organization host any benefit events where one gender dresses as the opposite to raise money? Does your local high school put on any plays where students might have to dress in the opposite gender? This bill has lasting implications for many activities both LGBTQIA+ and Straight. 

We want to show Senator Toews (and supporters) that North Idaho and the greater Idaho communities support drag, drag performers, drag performances and our First Amendment rights!