{"id":1637852,"date":"2022-09-09T14:23:30","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T18:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1637852"},"modified":"2022-09-09T14:24:08","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T18:24:08","slug":"boise-pride-backs-down-cancels-controversial-drag-kids-performance-as-more-sponsors-pull-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/boise-pride-backs-down-cancels-controversial-drag-kids-performance-as-more-sponsors-pull-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Boise Pride Backs Down, Cancels Controversial \u2018Drag Kids\u2019 Performance As More Sponsors Pull Out"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fboise-pride-backs-down-cancels-controversial-drag-kids-performance-as-more-sponsors-pull-out%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1637852&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/idaho\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Boise<\/a> Pride Festival has canceled its \u201cDrag Kids\u201d performance after at least six sponsors publicly withdrew from the event for at least a $48,000 net loss in donations.<\/p>\n<p>The festival organizers released a statement on Thursday announcing the \u201cdifficult decision\u201d to \u201cpostpone\u201d the performance involving minors \u201cdue to increased safety concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Statement from Boise Pride: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0A7iGyZyfr\">pic.twitter.com\/0A7iGyZyfr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Boise Pride (@boisepride) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/boisepride\/status\/1568008347697446912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 8, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the vast majority of our sponsors and supporters have voiced their support for the Boise Pride Festival and the Drag Kids program, we have made the very difficult decision to postpone this performance due to increased safety concerns. The health and well-being of the kids, their parents, and the attendees of the Festival are our priority,\u201d read a statement from the official Boise Pride Twitter account.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/boise-pride-festival-loses-sponsor-over-scheduled-drag-kids-performance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">previously reported<\/a> that Zions Bank publicly withdrew its participation from the event on Wednesday, citing concerns over the drag performance involving children as young as 11. Since then, five additional sponsors have dropped out for the same reason, including Idaho Power, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW), agribusiness company Simplot, Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU), and CapEd Credit Union. Based on the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220906233240\/https:\/\/boisepridefest.org\/2022-sponsors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sponsors\u2019 levels<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/6046fb95a0a3ed5aaf7702e9\/t\/622f805924f3ab682740c785\/1647280298943\/2022-Sponsorship-Brochure.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pricing brochure<\/a>, Zions Bank committed to an $18,000 sponsorship, Simplot pledged $6,000, Idaho Power committed $3,000, and CapEd Credit Union and ICCU both pledged $1,500. DHW had more than one Orange Level sponsorship and committed at least $18,000.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday morning, the J.R. Simplot Company announced its withdrawal from the festival due to the \u201cDrag Kids\u201d event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe J.R. Simplot Company is aware of some concerns from community members and Simplot customers about our support of the Boise Pride Festival and subsequent programming associated with that event,\u201d read the statement from Simplot. \u201cWe do not condone any activity or event that may be perceived to exploit or take advantage of children or any other segment of the population.\u201d It did, however, express support for their \u201cLGBTQi+ employees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING: Simplot has issued a statement in opposition to Boise Pride Festival&#8217;s child drag queen program, saying the company does &#8220;not condone any activity or event that may be perceived to exploit or take advantage of children.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TT3OUXjotP\">pic.twitter.com\/TT3OUXjotP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Christopher F. Rufo \u2694\ufe0f (@realchrisrufo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realchrisrufo\/status\/1568284883973476354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 9, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Shortly after, Christopher Rufo shared an update with his followers after learning of the withdrawal of two Idaho-based credit unions. CapEd Credit Union shared a statement on its social media accounts: \u201cWhen we committed to our sponsorship of this year\u2019s Boise Pride Festival, we were unaware of the events and activities involving children\/minors. After careful consideration, we have made the decision to withdraw our sponsorship of this year\u2019s Boise Pride Festival and have communicated this to the event organizers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a Facebook post, ICCU wrote, \u201cWe are disappointed in the events and conversations centered around this year\u2019s event. We appreciate the programming change made by Boise Pride, but have made the decision to withdraw our involvement from the event.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING: Two more sponsors\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/capedcu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Capedcu<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Idaho_Central?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Idaho_Central<\/a>\u2014have dropped support for the Boise Pride Festival, which had advertised child drag queen performances featuring kids as young as 11 years old. That&#8217;s now at least six sponsors that have canceled their donations. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KLfQrsjqsg\">pic.twitter.com\/KLfQrsjqsg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Christopher F. Rufo \u2694\ufe0f (@realchrisrufo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realchrisrufo\/status\/1568281166234648576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 9, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, Rufo shared a statement from DHW addressed to Boise Pride organizers. \u201cDHW\u2019s sponsorship of Boise Pride 2022 has led to some confusion about whether DHW endorses specific event activities involving minors during this event,\u201d said Director Dave Jeppesen. \u201cTo avoid any confusion regarding DHW\u2019s support of such activities, DHW is withdrawing both of its Orange Level sponsorships and Project Filter will no longer be supporting a booth at the event this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">EXCLUSIVE: The Idaho Department of Health &#038; Welfare has withdrawn its sponsorship for the City of Boise&#8217;s Pride festival, which has advertised performances featuring child drag queens as young as 11 years old. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/U6LDq4sMw5\">pic.twitter.com\/U6LDq4sMw5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Christopher F. Rufo \u2694\ufe0f (@realchrisrufo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realchrisrufo\/status\/1567988358835744768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 8, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kivitv.com\/news\/idaho-power-health-department-latest-to-pull-sponsorship-from-boise-pride-fest-over-controversy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Idaho News 6<\/a> was able to reach Idaho Power for comment on Thursday, confirming it was backing out of its sponsorship over concerns about the \u201cDrag Kids\u201d event. \u201cDue to programming changes that occurred after our sponsorship and concerns for the safety of our employees and volunteers, we have withdrawn our participation in the Boise Pride event,\u201d said Idaho Power Communications Specialist Brad Bowlin. \u201cWe will continue to support our diverse communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rufo, who first drew attention to the \u201cDrag Kids\u201d performance on Tuesday, shared the Boise Pride Festival update with his Twitter followers, calling the concern for safety \u201cbaseless.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe festival did not provide any evidence for alleged \u2018safety concerns,\u2019\u201d said Rufo in a follow-up tweet. \u201cThis is a common technique when left-wing organizations get caught promoting something awful: they scream \u2018harassment\u2019 rather than take responsibility for their actions. Such claims are often baseless.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The festival did not provide any evidence for alleged &#8220;safety concerns.&#8221; This is a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Boise Pride Festival has canceled its \u201cDrag Kids\u201d performance after at least six sponsors publicly withdrew from the event for at least a $48,000 net loss in donations. The festival organizers released a statement on Thursday announcing the \u201cdifficult decision\u201d to \u201cpostpone\u201d the performance involving minors \u201cdue to increased safety concerns.\u201d Statement from Boise &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1637854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1637852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1637852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1637852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1637852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1637854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1637852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1637852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1637852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}