Pride Foundation

North Idaho Embraces LGBTQ Equality

Steve (most right) and the students of the University of Idaho Lavander Graduation

In my year and a half as a Pride Foundation staff member in the great state of Idaho, I am reminded and inspired on a daily basis about the generosity and dedication of the people who live here when it comes to the work of creating LGBTQ Equality.

That inspiration is most apparent than when I am traveling across the state to meet donors and volunteers, as well as participate in events dedicated to promoting tolerance and acceptance, eliminating ignorance, and embracing and celebrating diversity. A week-long trip to north Idaho in April reminded and encouraged me about how far we’ve come in all of those areas, and the welcome, growing support from those communities. A visual slideshow of my adventures can be found here on Pride Foundation’s Facebook page. Altogether, I traveled more than 400 miles and visited Moscow, Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint, and Bonners Ferry.

Trip highlights were many, but first and foremost was a visit to the University of Idaho in Moscow, where I was the keynote speaker for Lavender Graduation, a ceremony celebrating the accomplishments of the school’s LGBTQ students; there were 13 this year. More than 65 people attended, including Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney and University of Idaho President Duane Nellis, who also spoke at the ceremony.

Pride Foundation grantees located in northern Idaho in 2011 include Inland Oasis, North Idaho AIDS Coalition and University  of Idaho’s Human Rights Access & Inclusion Office later participated in an informative roundtable discussion at U of I about LGBTQ-related issues in Idaho, an event also attended by area donors and volunteers.

In Coeur d’Alene, I met up with Pride Foundation Idaho Leadership Action Team member Jon Downing, a chemistry professor at North Idaho College (NIC) and faculty advisor for NIC’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) . I had the opportunity to attend an NIC GSA meeting, and later met with Jon and the GSA’s student president Danni Bain to brainstorm potential ways Pride Foundation could help the GSA’s work through future grants and/or sponsorships.

After a donor visit trip to Bonners Ferry, very near the Canadian border, I finally landed in Sandpoint, which in January became the first city in Idaho to pass a citywide nondiscrimination ordinance protecting LGBTQ citizens. Among the many progressive and supportive folks I was fortunate to network with in this beautiful community this visit, a special mention goes out to resident Laura Bry, a straight ally who works with both the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force and Bonner County Democrats.

Community Member, Laura Bry and Steve

In addition to helping organize a successful Pride Foundation fundraiser in Sandpoint last September at the home of her brother Thomas Bry and his partner Joey Palisano, Laura participated for the first time on a Pride Foundation Idaho Scholarship Interview Committee this spring, and volunteered to step up and join the state’s Leadership Action Team, helping represent north Idaho.

People like Laura, Jon, and Danni as well as grantees like Inland Oasis, NIAC and University of Idaho are links in the growing chain of change in Idaho on the road to LGBTQ Equality, a theme that was central to my Lavender Graduation speech. And how gratifying and rewarding it has continued to be for me to represent Pride Foundation in the Gem State along this journey.

Steve Martin is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Idaho. Email Steve.

Idahoans awarded $36,000 in Pride Foundation scholarships

ID Scholarship volunteers Lucy, Donna, Chris & Laura: Idaho scholarship committee volunteers Lucy Groves, Donna Wade and Chris Cooke of Boise interviewed applicants this year along with Laura Bry of Sandpoint who “beamed in” via Skype.

There’s nothing more rewarding than helping students follow their dreams of pursuing higher education, on their way to personal and professional fulfillment. And this year, Pride Foundation has given nine Idahoans the opportunity to attain their goals with a combined $36,850 in scholarships, a total nearly triple the award amount for Idaho students in 2011.

The scholarships are part of a total $400,000 awarded this year to 94 LGBTQ and straight ally scholars in Pride Foundation’s five-state region of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington – the highest scholarship annual award total to date. A complete list and bios of this year’s scholars can be found here. Idaho scholars are listed below.

Three committees of 13 volunteers from Idaho helped read applications and interview scholars this year, a process that all involved agree was an inspiring experience from start to finish.

“The applicants themselves were inspiring to me – their perseverance, their excitement about their personal futures and their contributions to equality,” said Joanna Madden of Boise. “The committee itself was the product of obvious care in its formation, made up of thoughtful, professionally and personally diverse people.

“What I was energized and impressed with is the large assortment of applicants who seem to have overcome terrible personal challenges, and now are committed to the betterment of social justice, focusing on the LGBTQ community,” echoed Keith Ekness of Coeur d’Alene. “I feel honored to have been able to be involved and contribute in a way to the lives of these students, and I hope, the future leaders in Idaho in the pursuit of equality for all people.”

“We get to learn about folks at their best and come to understand how they want to create change in their communities,” said Donna Wade, a longtime Pride Foundation scholarship committee volunteer from Boise. “To know that our scholarship might make a small impact on that is humbling.

“Without a doubt the thing that surprised me most was how amazingly talented, and ambitious the folks we were interviewing were,” said Chris Cooke, a first-time committee volunteer from Boise. “My hope would be to keep the youth involved and hope to utilize all the energy and talent they bring with them to benefit the community as a whole. I can’t wait to see what more these individuals have to offer and where they are going in life.”

ID Scholarship volunteers Stephanie, Emi, Joanna, Steven: Boiseans Stephanie Thomas, Emilie Jackson-Edney (with canine assistant Sophie), Joanna Madden and Steven Lanzet interviewed Idaho scholarship applicants at The Community Center in Boise along with fellow volunteer Keith Ekness of Coeur d’Alene.

“I derive an immense sense of satisfaction to know that in some small way I can help fulfill the dreams and desires of phenomenal and passionate young leaders who will facilitate cultural change for future generations within our marginalized communities,” said Boisean Emilie Jackson-Edney, another longtime scholarship committee volunteer and new Pride Foundation board member. “The life stories shared by the scholarship finalists are both heart-wrenching and at the same time uplifting.”

“I was most inspired by the attitudes of the applicants – the chin-up, I-can-overcome-any-challenge attitudes,” summed up Stephanie Thomas of Boise. “They made me feel like I could, too. Hope is alive and well in the Northwest.”

Pride Foundation’s scholarships program began in 1993. Since then, nearly $3 million has been awarded to 1,200 students. Scholarships support LGBTQ and straight ally students who have shown leadership to advance the LGBTQ community. The scholarships are intended to support various programs: 2-year degrees, 4-year degrees, vocational programs and graduate studies, to students of all ages.

This year’s Idaho scholarship recipients include:

Marisol Cervantes was raised in Boise and will be attending the College of Idaho in Caldwell in the fall. She plans to major in biology with a minor in art. Marisol is the current president of the Borah High School Gay-Straight Alliance and the co-founder of Idaho’s Queer and Allied Students organization. She is also the Youth Liaison for the Idaho Safe Schools Coalition.

Sheree Haggan is from Twin Falls and is attending school in Pueblo, Colo. She has been involved in several organizations such as Miracle Corners of the World and New Century Scholars. She has received honors from several colleges, nonprofit organizations, and was named a hometown hero by her city’s Chamber of Commerce. She is majoring in communications and hopes to use the skills she develops in school and other organizations to become a motivational speaker and conference coordinator for various activist groups.

Kendra Lotstein is currently a first-year law student at the University of Idaho College of Law. She plans to continue pursuing her legal degree with an emphasis in Native American law next year in Moscow. Academically, Kendra is ranked among the top 10 students of her class of 120 students and plans to continue illustrating the excellence she and fellow queer law students bring to the legal profession. In the future, Kendra hopes to utilize her legal skills to further advance the rights of queer individuals in the Inland and Pacific Northwest.

Josh Parrish will be beginning his sophomore year at American University in the fall. He is a double major in political science and international relations with a focus on French language. He has interned at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Washington, D.C. and will be working with the American Civil Liberties Union this summer. At AU, he is heavily involved with the GLBTA Resource Center and the School of Public Affairs Leadership Program.

Alexandrea Salinas was born and raised in Idaho and has lived there all 26 years of her life. Currently, she is enrolled as a non-traditional student at College of Idaho in Caldwell. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing with a minor in Latin American studies. Upon completion of the program, she hopes to enter into law school or pursue a master’s degree in literary studies. If able to get into a law program she would like to pursue civil rights law with the intention of furthering the rights of the LGBTQ community in Idaho.

Jackie Sandmeyer grew up in Boise and is currently a student at the University of Idaho in Moscow. She is majoring in sociology with an emphasis on inequalities and globalization. She has worked at the University of Idaho LGBTQA Office for the past three years, gaining experience in activism and gender equity. Her passion is in research and activism, and she is currently working on getting scholarly work published on gender and queer theory.

Josh Taylor graduated from Timberline High School in Boise. Since entering the Cornish College of the Arts program three years ago, he’s undergone a wealth of personal exploration and development in the pursuit to explore the capabilities of visual art. Currently studying design at Cornish, his interests lie in art history, publishing design and identity development.

Mistie Tolman was born and raised in Boise. She graduated from Meridian High School in 1995 and is attending Boise State University majoring in political science. She has a deep understanding of the costs of relationships when someone comes out in a religious household in Idaho, and her experiences have inspired her to change the environment in Idaho for its LGBTQ folks. She has been the treasurer and spokesperson for Add the Words, an all-volunteer organization working to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the Idaho Human Rights Act.

Mario Venegas was born in Mexico and lived in Nyssa, Ore. for seven years. He has been in the United States for 12 years. He now lives in Boise and attends Boise State University, majoring in sociology. Next year he will be attending BSU to finish his bachelor’s degree and apply for graduate school where his studies will culminate in a PhD in Sociology. He is currently working on emotional development, lingering insecurities, and reconciling his ethnic identity with his sexual orientation through his activism and writing.

Steve Martin is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Idaho. Email Steve.

Gay Idaho Senator Makes Run for Congress

Idaho State Senator Nicole LeFavour

I’ve known Idaho Senator  Nicole LeFavour for more than a decade. She and her partner Carol have been neighbors of ours for most of the 15 years that my partner Jim and I have lived in Boise, and we have all worked side-by-side with her over the years as volunteers on issues in Idaho related to LGBTQ equality. I can honestly say that Nicole is one of the bravest, dedicated and passionate people I know – qualities she brings to her new goal of becoming the first openly gay member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Idaho.

Nicole, a Democrat, announced her candidacy for the state’s second congressional district in March, after deciding to not seek re-election to the Idaho Legislature, where she has served a total of eight years in both the House and Senate. The state’s primary election is May 15. If she wins the Democratic nomination, Nicole will face in November Republican incumbent Mike Simpson, who has held the seat since 1999. The district encompasses northeast Boise, Mountain Home, Twin Falls, Ketchum, Burley, Pocatello and Idaho Falls.

“I’m running for Congress because I love Idaho and we can do better,” Nicole said. “This is a hard time in our nation, and sadly I feel Congress is not doing all it could to set our economy right. Idaho families want to feel secure about retirement, about their jobs and the opportunities their children will have. I understand that so well. We have a job to do as a nation and we have no time for partisan struggles.”

Those struggles have been particularly visible in Idaho when it comes to issues related to the LGBTQ community. Repeated, and growing, citizen efforts in the state to create legislation for anti-bullying in schools and adding the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the Idaho Human Rights Act continue to fall on deaf ears in the Republican-dominated state Legislature, and failed again this year.

“To all those out there who wait for the day not to have live in fear, I’m sorry,” Nicole said on March 28, after the Add Words bill was returned to her desk by the Idaho House State Affairs Committee without action. “Please know this issue will just grow each year. Be ready for next January.”

In a Pride Foundation blog post in May 2011, Nicole told me that she believes the Idaho Legislature overall is “a long way behind,” particularly when it comes to LGBTQ-related issues. “I think one of the reasons is because very few people there have experienced discrimination,” she said.

In running for Congress as an openly gay candidate from Idaho, Nicole said she is continuing to provide a recognizable voice speaking out on important issues such as ending discrimination.

“A gay person running for office has both advantages and disadvantages. Some say we have to be twice as smart and twice as hard-working to even think of running,” she said. “There is something unique about the level of attention a gay candidate brings to a race. If a candidate is well-spoken and solid on the issues, this can be a chance for them to become human to voters, something Democratic candidates always struggle to get enough coverage to be able to do.”

Steve Martin is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Idaho. Email Steve.

Push Continues for Anti-Bullying Bill in Idaho

Eric Anderson in Boise

Eric Anderson remembers how being bullied led him to struggling in high school as he shifted between peer groups looking for support from fellow students, all the while getting little to no help from his teachers.

The young Boise gay man ­– a past Pride Foundation scholarship applicant and chair of Boise LGBTQ youth group, Lion’s Pride Cubs, a Pride Foundation 2010 grantee – told his story to the Idaho Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee March 7, one of about 80 people in attendance at a public hearing to hear testimony on Idaho’s latest attempt to pass an anti-bullying bill in the state.

After nearly two hours of testimony and debate, the committee voted 5 to 4 to send the bill to amending order on the Senate floor to make changes to the bill. Concerns were raised about the bill’s constitutionality specifically related to protecting students’ First Amendment rights of free speech and language related to punishment for cyber bullying, as well as to costs associated with educator training. Read more about the hearing here and the full text of the original bill here.

For Anderson, who graduated from Borah High School in Boise in 2009, the importance of an anti-bullying bill in Idaho comes down to education and protection.

“This bill will give the tools to educators to enforce anti-bullying,” he said, adding that he, too, started bullying others himself and was led to believe it was OK. “I am ashamed that I became a bully. This bill will make schools more safe environments.”

Most of the public testimony was in favor of the bill’s passage. One retired teacher told a particularly moving story about witnessing a student being constantly bullied and even being shoved into a locker by fellow students. She did nothing to intervene, she said, and that student later committed suicide. “I still have to live with that every day.”

Jeni Griffin of Idaho Falls talked about the loss of her son to suicide and said that bullying played a part in her son’s depression. “He was bullied with a teacher standing right there who did nothing,” she said. “Some think bullying is a rite of passage. I disagree. Bullying is wrong.”

Kim Kane, former director of the Suicide Prevention Action Network of Idaho, told the committee that suicide is the second-largest cause of death among Idaho youth, and that bullying is a contributing factor.

“This is a public safety issue,” Kane said. “Parents have the right to know that their children are safe at school.”

Steve Martin is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Idaho. Email Steve.

Idaho LGBTQ oral history collection in works

Professor Riley Caldwell-O’Keefe of Boise State University

Creating an audio archive of the Idaho LGBTQ community for future generations is one of the primary goals behind an oral history collection project at Boise State University featuring interviews with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and queer residents.

The project is the brainchild of Riley Caldwell-O’Keefe, a professor in the Boise State University Theatre Arts Department. In the fall of 2011, she taught an “Intro to LGBTQ Studies” class in the university’s gender studies department and decided to make creating the LGBTQ oral history collection a component of the course. The idea stemmed from a healthy relationships panel hosted in October by the BSU Women’s Center that included two same-sex couples, and was greatly received by students.

“LGBTQ youth do not have enough visible role models,” Caldwell-O’Keefe said, “and I wanted the LGBTQ community here to be visible for them.”

Students conducted a total of 35 hour-long interviews with a varied group, ranging from LGBTQ activists to organic farmers and members of the military. Topics included childhood, coming of age and coming out, and historical and current connections with the Idaho LGBTQ community. The interviews will eventually be permanently archived as a special collection at the Boise State University library and accessed through the library’s website tentatively later this year.

I was asked to participate as one of the interviewees, talking, among other things, about my role with Pride Foundation, 30 years of living in Idaho, my 15-year relationship with my partner Jim, and our shared LGBTQ activist and advocacy volunteer work in Idaho.

“This project is an interactive learning tool, helping students understand LGBTQ history,” Caldwell-O’Keefe said, “with special emphasis on Idaho history and the impacts of this history on local individuals. It helps document the LGBTQ community of Idaho and serves as a valuable resource for students, researchers and the broader community.”

Steve Martin is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Idaho. Email Steve.

Boise workshop March 1 offers guidance to work with LGBTQ youth

The Idaho Psychological Association hopes a free community workshop in Boise in March 1 will give parents of LGBTQ youth and others the necessary information and guidance they need to support them.

The workshop, entitled “Gay & Lesbian Teens: What We Know & How To Guide Them,” is thought to be the IPA’s first community outreach revolving around LGBTQ issues since the group’s founding in the 1960s, and will give attendees the opportunity to learn more about teen sexual orientation and gender development. The event is open to the public and will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Boise State University Student Union Building, Hatch Ballroom A. Pre-registration is available at www.idahopsych.org.

Pride Foundation will be among the organizations tabling the event, providing information and resources related to the Idaho LGBTQ community. Other groups attending include Boise PFLAG, Idaho Safe Schools Coalition, Suicide Prevention Action Network of Idaho, the Boise chapter of Integrity, and Boise State University’s LGBTQ student support group BGLAD. Ritch Savin-Williams, professor and chair of human development and director of the sex and gender lab at Cornell University, and Kenneth Cohen, a clinical psychologist at Cornell specializing in gay, lesbian and bisexual issues, will also speak at the event, which will include a question and answer session.

The workshop precedes a day-long continuing education workshop on March 2 at BSU for health and mental care professionals, also focused on LGBTQ issues.

Deborah Katz, executive director of the IPA, said the organization decided the LGBTQ focus for these events was needed due to members seeing an increase in the number of gay, lesbian and transgendered clients, as well as more parents coming forward seeking advice on how to support their LGBTQ child.

“We hope that those who come will leave with valid scientific information, acceptance of it and guidance on how to respond,” Katz said.

“The community workshop will offer a great opportunity for parents, educators, and human service professionals to learn about issues and concerns relevant to contemporary LGBTQ youths’ experiences,” said Elizabeth Morgan, co-chair of the Idaho Safe Schools Coalition and an assistant professor of psychology at Boise State University. “It will also provide youth with the opportunity to gain validation for their own experiences and be exposed to alternative pathways of development.”

“Drs. Savin-Williams and Cohen are renowned in the field of sexual-minority youth development and will provide incredibly valuable information based on up-to-date research and best-practices,” she said. “Hearing these speakers is an incredible opportunity for the community, given that many professionals and educators do not receive adequate training for working with this population and many parents are also unprepared to create a protective and supportive environment for their LGBTQ children.”

Morgan added that the workshop will also address ways for youth, parents, educators and other professionals to respond to issues related to bullying.

“Further insights into recognizing and addressing bullying and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation, gender non-conformity, and gender identity are especially timely,” she said, “given that the Idaho Legislature is currently considering a bill that would protect students’ rights for school safety.”

Steve Martin is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Idaho. Email Steve.

Idaho ‘Add the Words’ Bill Denied Printing

Heartbreak: A silent protest after the hearing vote

By nature, I’m something of an optimist – particularly when it comes to assuming that most people will, in the end, always do the right thing. I’ll admit that faith was put to the test Feb. 10 when a majority of the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee decided to not print a bill that would have supported adding the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the Idaho Human Rights Act.

Nearly 300 people turned out to show their support for the legislation, and after the hearing many of them stood in the committee hall in a largely silent protest of the committee’s decision, hands over their mouths, broken only by a chorus of “We Shall Overcome,” and a vow by Idaho’s sole out legislator, Sen. Nicole LeFavour of Boise, that “This isn’t over.”

The hearing included no public testimony and wrapped up in less than an hour, with only Sen. Edgar Malepeai, Pocatello, and Michelle Stennett, Ketchum – the nine-member committee’s only two Democrats – voting in favor of the printing. Malepeai introduced the legislation to the committee in an emotional appeal, his voice occasionally cracking. “The question before us today with this legislation is whether or not it is the policy of the state of Idaho to allow discrimination against our gay family members, co-workers and friends,” he said.

“…we will no longer sit silently and allow them to continue to do the wrong thing.” - Mistie Tolman

“We want people to know how heartbroken we are on behalf of all Idahoans,” said Mistie Tolman, spokesman for Add the Words, a statewide grassroots campaign in support of amending the Idaho Human Rights Act. “It is tragic that the Senate State Affairs Committee didn’t so much as even pretend to want to know about how this legislation would improve the lives of so many of us, our families and our friends.”

Senator Nicole LeFavour shares an emotional moment with the protestors

“We are not giving up, however,” Tolman said. “We will continue to work side by side with allied agencies, organizations and Idahoans to show the Legislature that we will no longer sit silently and allow them to continue to do the wrong thing. We are so thankful for Sen. Malepeai and his moving introduction of the legislation, for Sen. Stennett’s vote and for Sen. LeFavour’s tireless efforts and undying devotion to equal rights for all Idahoans.”

The hearing was a personal wake-up call for me about how out of touch many of our Idaho legislators are. I wish some of the Idaho Senate State Affairs committee naysayers would have watched and listened to their Washington counterparts these last couple of weeks during the legislative debates and majority votes for marriage equality. Perhaps some of them would have been inspired to do the right thing. Just three more votes would have given us a printing – and perhaps an opportunity for Idaho’s LGBTQ community and allies to tell their legislators that all forms of discrimination are wrong.

And while I faced my own moment of discouragement after the hearing, I know that Mistie is right. The fight will go on and one day, I know we’re going to win.

Steve Martin is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Idaho. Email Steve or comment on the story below.

“Add the Words” gains momentum in Idaho

Leah Cronen supporting the cause!

A grassroots effort to add the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the Idaho Human Rights Act took a significant step forward in January following a day of several highly attended statewide rallies and events in support of the action, and the announcement of a print hearing on February 10th by the Senate State Affairs Committee to consider the legislation. The hearing is slated for 8 a.m. in the West Wing 55 State Affairs room at the Idaho State Capitol Building and is open to the public, though no testimony will be heard.

About 1,000 people turned out alone on January 28th at the Capitol in Boise to shout out their support of the “Add the Words” effort, which includes a campaign encouraging Idaho residents to write their legislators personal messages of support for the bill on sticky notes, which are then posted in the Capitol building for legislators to see. Idaho residents unable to post their own sticky notes can text a message in 20 words or less to 208-724-1761, or send an email to [email protected].

Add the Words 'sticky note' cake - Yum!

The Boise rally concluded with attendees filing into the Capitol and posting their sticky notes – a total of about 300 – on the doors of the House and Senate chambers and in the halls of committee rooms. Common Ground Community Chorus, a recent Pride Foundation Idaho grantee, performed the national anthem on the Capitol steps, while Idaho Sen. Nicole LeFavour and Rep. Cherie Buckner-Webb both took their turns at the podium to express their support of Add the Words.

Other rallies, vigils and similar events were also held on January 28th in Twin Falls, Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Caldwell, Moscow, Nampa, Weiser, Troy, Lewiston, Coeur d’Alene and Plummer, according to Add the Words spokesperson and co-organizer Mistie Tolman.

“All bigotry and forms of discrimination are wrong,” Tolman told the Boise rally crowd. “Never again should any of us live in fear because of who we are.”

At the Capitol Building

“We’re not going to be second-class citizens. There should be no such thing,” added longtime Idaho LGBTQ activist Doug Flanders of Boise, also speaking at the Boise rally. “We deserve equal rights under the law.”

Concerted citizen efforts pushing for the legislation started in 2007. A bill was printed in 2008 by the Senate State Affairs Committee, but has never had a print hearing since then, nor has it ever received a public hearing.

“We are here to demonstrate the level of public support there is for including gay and transgender people in our fair employment, housing and education laws,” Tolman said, “and to encourage Idaho’s Legislature that it’s time to add the words sexual orientation and gender identity to the Idaho Human Rights Act.”

Steve Martin is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Idaho. Email Steve.

Sandpoint ID passes citywide non-discrimination ordinance

Sandpoint, Idaho

The north Idaho town of Sandpoint has become the first city in the state to pass a citywide non-discrimination ordinance that includes protections for sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. The ordinance was passed unanimously by the city council at its Dec. 21 meeting, and will go into effect by the end of January.

Appropriately titled “Discrimination Prohibited,” the ordinance “reaffirms our stance against discrimination,” said John Reuter, who has served on the Sandpoint City Council since June 2008 and is currently council president. “We believe that if we have the ability to make a stand in our small town, we have an obligation to do so.”

Reuter, 28, co-owner of the Sandpoint Reader weekly newspaper and communications director for the Idaho Senate Majority Caucus, said he and Sandpoint Mayor Gretchen Hellar had been discussing the idea of a broad non-discrimination ordinance for several years, and “I got serious about it this fall and started pushing a lot harder and building a coalition of support. It was long overdue.”

The ordinance states in part that “in order to ensure that all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity/expression enjoy the full benefits of citizenship and are afforded equal opportunities for employment, housing, commercial property and the use of public accommodations, it is necessary that appropriate legislation be enacted.”

Reuter said Sandpoint modeled its ordinance after citywide non-discrimination ordinances passed in Salt Lake City, Utah and Missoula, Montana.

“The city of Sandpoint should be commended for their vision and steadfast commitment to equality and fairness under the law,” said Monica Hopkins, executive director of the ACLU of Idaho, which reached out to Sandpoint’s city attorney to offer support in reviewing the ordinance and assisted in crafting a religious exemption that adhered to the Constitution and federal law.

Other cities in Idaho have added comprehensive non-discrimination employment policies, Hopkins said, but the policies only affect city employees. Boise and Pocatello have added language protection for both sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Caldwell and Moscow have added sexual orientation only.

Sandpoint has a population of about 8,000, and the community has a proud history of support for human rights issues, including LGBTQ equality, led by organizations in the area that include Bonner County Human Rights Task Force and Foundation for Human Rights Action and Advocacy (FHRAA). Pride Foundation held a widely-supported fundraising event in Sandpoint in September 2011, and awarded a sponsorship grant to FHRAA for its annual Songwriter’s Circle concert fundraiser in November.

“This is about basic human dignity,” said Reuter, adding that he hopes Sandpoint’s example will serve as a motivator for other Idaho towns to adopt citywide non-discrimination ordinances with sexual orientation and gender identity/expression language. “We’re saying to everyone – ‘Hey, the community is with you here. You’re welcome here. You don’t have to fear.’ We’ve created an ordinance that’s fair, that educates and brings the community together.”

Steve Martin is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Idaho. Email Steve.

2011: A memorable year for Idaho

Gracious Hosts: Boise couple Carmen Morawski and Travis Cossel

The end-of-year holiday season is one of those times of the year when it’s important to take stock of the world around us, the loved ones in our lives, and celebrate the rich diversity of life that makes every day a true gift.

During this last year, I’ve been blessed to have had several opportunities through my work with Pride Foundation to witness much generosity and support for the LGBTQ community in Idaho. When I started my role as the state’s regional development organizer in December 2010, Pride Foundation had little visibility here. There were few donors and volunteers, and an overall lack of knowledge about our mission to support grassroots organizations and students promoting and creating LGBTQ equality. While there are certainly further strides to make, the last 12 months have shown plenty of potential and hope.

Supporters Terry Groth, Jamie Dillon and Lora Volkert at our Idaho end-of-year celebration

I’ve written about many of those experiences already. Among them: Boise musicians Stephanie and Bart Bell putting together a benefit concert for equality, north Idaho couple Thomas Bry and Joey Palisano rallying their progressive community in Sandpoint for a Pride Foundation fundraiser, and Nampans Janie Burns and Lori Steele graciously hosting a highly attended “Coming Out to the Farm” event for us at their southern Idaho home.

What those stories share is that all of those inspiring people are new to the Pride Foundation family this year and united in their quest for LGBTQ equality in Idaho.

That vision and support for the LGBTQ community and Pride Foundation’s work in the Gem State has continued to gain momentum the last few months of 2011. Boise couple Carmen Morawski and Travis Cossel reached out to their friends and work colleagues for a fundraising party in October, past north Idaho donors Keith Ekness and Ted Kearn renewed and significantly grew their financial support in November, and Boise volunteer Emilie Jackson-Edney stepped up her leadership role this fall by joining Pride Foundation’s five-state governance committee.

Volunteers Emilie Jackson-Edney and Jim Smith tabling at a December concert for Pride Foundation new grantee Common Ground Community Chorus

Capping off the year in December, nearly 60 past and new Idaho grantees, volunteers and donors attended a Pride Foundation end-of-year event, celebrating our collective efforts on LGBTQ issues in 2011. And one of those new grantees, Common Ground Community Chorus, performed its annual Christmas concert, a simultaneously laugh-out-loud and moving show, attended by about 200 people. A Pride Foundation raffle during the concert resulted in a $100 donation to the Idaho Human Rights Education Center – a fitting end to a memorable first year, and a kickoff for what will no doubt be an even better 2012.

Steve Martin is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Idaho. Email Steve.