For the eighth year in a row, Idaho gay rights advocates will attempt to get the attention of the Legislature with a rally at the Capitol this Saturday.
"Add the Words Idaho" organizer Mistie Tolman says more than 600 people have said on Facebook that they’ll attend. She says people from all across the state will ask lawmakers to add the phrase “sexual orientation and gender identity” to the state’s human rights amendment.
“Eight years now we’ve been asking for the dignity of a public hearing," says Tolman, "for [legislators] to hear us and listen to our stories and understand where we’re coming from when we talk about living with this fear of discrimination.”
There is no statewide law protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Idahoans from employment, housing and public accommodation discrimination. During seven previous legislative sessions, the bill has gotten very little traction in the Statehouse. Tolman says that this is the year to change that.
“You know we have to have hope," says Tolman. "We can’t continue this work each year without the hope they’ll do something. But the truth is, this year across the state people are growing restless and frustrated and we are restless and frustrated right along with them.”
The event will include speeches from LGBT advocates from around the state. Democratic State Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb and Rep. Grant Burgoyne will speak, as well as a student leader from Boise’s Capital High School.
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