‘Boise Pride Festival’ Cancels Child Drag Show After Corporate Sponsors Begin Dropping like Flies

We reported earlier that two companies had dropped out from sponsoring Boise Pride Festival over an event planned for Sunday afternoon titled “Drag Kids”. The event was for children to dress in drag and parade themselves on stage.

Zions Bank and Idaho Power Pull Sponsorship of Boise Pride Festival Over ‘Events Involving Minors’

This event was one that many sponsors were allegedly unaware of and not okay with after being made aware. Wednesday Zions Bank announced they would be pulling their support, Idaho Power and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare both followed suit.

After the lineup for the festival was made public, there was major backlash from many groups and individuals. Today in a statement, Boise Pride Festival announced they were removing the event after trying to defend it the day before. The statement reads:

“While 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. The kids who were going to perform have the enthusiastic support of their community and support and consent of their parents. We support the kids 1000% and their choice to be themselves, stand in their truth, and express themselves. They are brave, beautiful and deserve their chance to be in the spotlight, and we want to give that to them at a later date.”

This is a quickly developing situation and we will be monitoring for updates.