Timeline
1969 to 1979
1971 Weekly newspaper Intermountain Observer describes quiet gay scene in Boise
1976 First gay bar in Idaho, known as Shuckey’s, opens in Boise
1976 MCC congregation organized in Boise
1976 Gay women’s group called “Connections” begins meeting at YWCA
1977 Seven female employees of Boise Police Department fired on suspicion of lesbianism, which department claims was damaging to police morale; engenders protests and petition drives from Boise’s gay community, one of the first instances of open gay activism in Idaho; the women fight back with suit in federal court and win settlement
1978 “Elm Awards” (now “Les Bois Awards”) instituted to recognize achievements in the gay community; after a hiatus in the 1980s, revived in 1992
1980 to 1989
1980 Imperial Sovereign Gem Court of Idaho organized (drag court)
1983 Gay community center organized in Boise
1984 The Community Center starts monthly gay newspaper, now called Diversity
1985 First AIDS case reported in Idaho
1986 First PFLAG chapter organized in Idaho
1986 A motion picture with explicit gay theme screened for first time in Boise; tickets sold on subscription basis in advance to guarantee its commercial viability. (The movie was “Desert Hearts”)
1988 Gay Rodeo Association of Idaho organized
1989 The building housing Idaho's first gay bar burns to the ground.
1990 to 1999
1990 First Gay Pride rally and march in Boise
1992 Tom Spanbauer’s novel, “The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon” published by Atlantic Monthly Press; first major novel to address an Idaho gay theme
1993 First Gay Pride rally held in Moscow, Idaho
1994 “No on One” campaign organized by gay community and allies instrumental in defeating Proposition One, an anti gay initiative on statewide ballot, by slim margin
2000 to 2010
2001 First Gay Pride festival held in Pocatello, Idaho
2003 Idaho’s “infamous crime against nature” law made obsolete by ruling of U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas
2004 Nicole LeFavour becomes first openly gay person elected to Idaho state legislature
2006 Idaho constitutional amendment passed by voters declaring marriage only to be between man and a woman
2007 Former Idaho conservative congressman Larry Craig arrested in a sting in an airport men's room. Craig did no seek reelection in 2008 and subsequently left office in 2009.
2008 Nicole Lefavour becomes the first out gay person to serve in both houses of the Idaho legislature when she wins election to the Idaho Senate.
2009 First Gay Pride Week celebrated in Twin Falls, Idaho