A parade and marching band walk across City Park in downtown Coeur d’ Alene during the 2023 Pride in the Park event organized by the North Idaho Pride Alliance. (Mia Maldonado / Idaho Capital Sun)
A bill to limit youth access to public performances considered “indecent sexual exhibitions,” such as drag shows, is headed to the Idaho House floor after passing a committee hearing on Wednesday.
House Bill 230, sponsored by Rep. Ted Hill, R-Eagle, would require event hosts and organizers to verify people’s age to attend public performances that are considered “indecent sexual exhibitions,” using the same indecency standard used by the Federal Communications Commission to determine whether content is appropriate for daytime television. Minors who are exposed to “sexual conduct” would have a right to sue event organizers for $5,000 in statutory damages as well as monetary damages for “psychological, emotional, economic and physical harm suffered,” according to the bill.
The bill also includes an emergency clause, meaning the bill would go into effect 30 days after the governor’s signature.
Hill said the legislation aims to address “negative secondary effects on society of exposing children to indecent sexual conduct,” and it would protect children like his own.
The Idaho Family Policy Center drafted the bill, an organization that pushes for conservative Christian policies. It previously tried to ban drag performances in public spaces in 2023, and this year drafted legislation to require Bibles be taught in schools.
“In our society, the innocence of youth is constantly under attack — and children are sexualized on every front. In the state of Idaho, these attacks have taken the form of live performances – like drag shows and pole dancing – that expose children to explicit sexual conduct,” Idaho Family Policy Center policy assistant Edward Clark said.
Clark told the committee the organization consulted with stakeholders such as Boise State University and performing arts groups. The Boise Pride Festival, an official nonprofit, was not consulted about the legislation, executive director Donald Williamson told the Sun.
The House State Affairs Committee voted to move the bill forward along party lines, with both Democrats opposing the move.
Testimony on House Bill 230
While the bill does not explicitly say the words “drag shows,” the policy center said the legislation was inspired by drag shows held in public parks in Coeur d’Alene and Boise, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.
Five people testified against the bill, including Jessica Strebe, a drag king performer and a mother.
“I’ve performed in multiple all ages drag events in multiple states. I wear pretty much what I am wearing right now,” Strebe said, who wore black slacks, a button-up long-sleeve shirt and a black vest. “Is it offensive to you for a woman to wear pants?”
Sarah Lynch, a Kootenai County resident, also testified against the bill. Lynch served as a safety liaison in Coeur d’Alene during 2022 Pride in the Park event when 31 members of a white nationalist organization known as the Patriot Front were arrested under conspiracy to riot charges while gathering inside of a U-Haul truck near the event.
In addition to the white nationalist arrests, the 2022 North Idaho pride event received attention after Summer Bushnell, a blogger, defamed and falsely accused a drag performer of indecent exposure.
“The Kootenai County resident who spread the altered video spurred the domino effect straight down to the Idaho Legislature nearly three years later, and despite the unanimous ($1.1) million verdict of an Idaho jury finding that perpetrator liable for defamation, a photo from that same doctored video is still up on the Idaho Family Policy Center’s website,” Lynch said.
Lynch said House Bill 230’s language is subjective, and aimed to censor LGBTQ+ individuals.
“(House Bill 230) only serves to embolden dangerous groups to make peaceful events like Pride celebrations unsafe,” Lynch said.
Three people testified in support of the bill, including Paul Lewer, a Boise pastor.
“I’m here today to encourage you to protect the innocence of Idaho children who are powerless to protect or advocate for themselves,” Lewer said.
This bill, like others this legislative session, was drafted in response to pride events in Idaho. Another bill introduced by the committee Tuesday aims to amend Idaho’s indecent exposure law in response to a Canyon County Pride event that took place in June.
The House may vote on it in the coming days or weeks of the legislative session.
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