BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) -- Hundreds of members of Idaho's LGBTQ+ community held a gathering inside the Idaho State Capitol on Tuesday commemorating the 10th anniversary of Idaho's first and only public hearing on an "Add the Words" bill.
For 20 years, LGBTQ+ advocates have pushed lawmakers to add the words "sexual orientation and gender identity" to the state's Human Rights Act for employment, public accommodation and housing protections for LGBTQ+ Idahoans.
In 2015, after years of protest, the Legislature allowed a hearing, but the bill did not advance.
Since then, Republican lawmakers, who hold a 90-15 supermajority in the state, have blocked hearings related to the bill. Instead, they, along with Idaho Gov. Brad Little, have enacted laws affecting the LGBTQ+ community, including a 2023 law banning doctors from prescribing hormones and puberty blockers to minors and a 2024 law prohibiting government entities from requiring employees to use personal titles or pronouns that don't align with a person's sex, among several others.
This year is no exception. On Tuesday, the Idaho House in a 46-24 vote passed a memorial petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision regarding same-sex marriage.
"These bills benefit no one -- they're designed to control, discriminate and erase us," Add the Words policy advocate Nikson Mathews said. "But laws cannot erase us. For decades, Idaho's queer community has continued to show up and take care of each other. This event is about our legacy. It's a reminder that we're still here and building a future rooted in care, dignity, and justice."
On Jan. 16, Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, introduced a personal bill seeking to add LGBTQ+ protections in Idaho law.
Personal bills do not follow the traditional path of being introduced by a legislative committee, and they are often used to send a message. The Idaho Legislature does not hear or advance them.
Idaho remains one of 18 states without statewide nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ individuals, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
"I think we all know and can probably agree that we've never gotten the damn thing we needed from this building, except for each other," Add the Words Executive Director Chelsea Gaona-Lincoln told the crowd Tuesday afternoon.