Date: Sun, 12 Jun 94 11:00:55 EDT
From: BoiseBear@aol.com

Reprinted from the [Boise] Idaho Statesman,
Sunday, June 12 1994 -- Front Page

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Photo: Parade organizer Troy Flagg, left, welcomes
supporters to the 5th annual Gay, Lesgbian and
Bisexual Freedom Day at the Statehouse Saturday.
Small groups of demonstrators protested the rally.


1,167 TURN OUT FOR GAY PARADE

Organizers say ICA initiative was attendance booster

By Marianne Flagg
The Idaho Statesman

Idaho's gay community cheered, san and marched in
celebration of their pride Saturday.  And they tried mightily
to ignore a raucous band to urged them to go "back in
the closet."

A crowd of 1,167 -- more than twice the size of last
year's gay parade -- gathered at noon on the Statehouse
steps to hear messages of unity at the 5th annual
Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Freedom Day.  The group,
which included heterosexual supporters, then marched
to The Grove [town square -rs] for an afternoon of food
and entertainment.

Some rally and parade participants held hands or were
arm-in-arm with their partners and exchanged hugs
with friends.

One speaker was 75-year-old actress Peg Phillips, who
plays Ruth Anne on the CBS drama-comedy "Northern
Exposure."

Phillips also is the mother of Elizabeth Greene, minister
of Boise's Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

"I've lived through and fought through marches for civil
rights, the McCarthy era, all the attempts to enslave
people in our country," Phillips said.  "So far, none of
them have worked.  Now they've got their hooks into
another group."

The rally and parade were peaceful.  Parade leaders
handed out stickers to participants to get a crowd
count.

Leaders credited a proposed anti-gay initiative for
boosting turnout.  If the Idaho Citizens Alliance
gathers 32,061 valid signatures by July 8, the
initiative will be on the [November] ballot.  It would
prevent gays from being included as a class that
could ask for protection from discrimination.

About 40 protesters stood across the street, holding
signs or observing the event.  A dozen of them
tried to disrupt the rally by shouting slurs and
making coarse sexual remarks.

Rally speakers mixed jokes and concern.

Nationally known lesbian comedian Robin Tyler
cracked one-liners.  "Darling, if Michelangelo
had been straight, the Sistine Chapel would have
been walpapered."

On a sober note, Donna RedWing -- a national
lesbian leader who was a key foe of Oregon's
failed 1992 anti-gay Measure 9 -- urged gays and
lesbians not to let their opponents define them.
And she urged them to "come out" to friends
and family.

"When we do not define ourselves, somebody else
will," she said.  "They define us in hate and bigotry.
How do you fight this holy war from the closet?"

Joann Jackson of Boise was one of several in the
crowd who wore shirts or held signs that proclaimed
"Straight but not narrow."

"I think our society is much too divisive," Jackson
said, explaining why she attended.  "If we don't
stick together, we'll be in a world of hurt.  We have
no right to deprive people of their civil rights."

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Photo: Joe Gallas, right, commander of the local
Lion Regiment, leads the freedom march alongside
David Hoffenbacker of Idaho Falls, far left, along
Main Street to The Grove on Saturday.

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Submitted by Robert Shaffer [my words  -rs]
BoiseBear@aol.com