'In for a fight': Idahoans rally at Statehouse to support transgender rights

Shannon Tyler, The Idaho Statesman on Sep 6, 2025

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More than 100 people gathered at Idaho Capitol steps on Friday evening for the second annual Boise Trans March to rally for LGBTQ+ rights in Idaho — a state where these groups feel under attack.

Despite facing challenges to get the march off the ground this year, supporters came bearing flags, signs and spirit on the eve of the Boise Pride Festival, which takes place this weekend. Speakers and those at the rally demanded visibility and equal rights in a state where they say Republican lawmakers have made it a habit of targeting them.

Last year, the march organizers gathered at the steps to celebrate trans joy, but this year one organizer knew they had to be prepared for more serious endeavors.

“I think that we’re in for a fight, and it’s more important now than ever for us to stand united as a front and be there for each other,” the co-director of Trans Joy Boise, Bonnie Violet Quintana, told the Idaho Statesman before the march. “When there’s an attack on one of us, there’s an attack on all of us.”

Quintana said some organizations and companies backed out of sponsorships or being part of the march this year. The Boise Trans March even struggled to get an in-state security company for the event, so it hired a Seattle company to keep those in attendance safe, according to Quintana.

The march brought forth a cry for the restoration of rights that transgender Idahoans have seen taken away, from gender-affirming care to the ability to have yourself called by your preferred name or pronoun.

“So much has changed in the span of just a year,” Preston Pacey, Trans Joy Boise co-director, told the Statesman. “It’s happening to us directly, and we just want to send a message that we’re here, we’re fighting for you, and you’re not alone.”

Pacey said they hope people will continue rallying around trans rights in the coming months. The LGBTQ+ community as a whole, and transgender people in particular, expect further legislation targeting their rights when the Legislature returns in January, Pacey said.

Lily and Andy, who shared only their first names with the Statesman over safety concerns, came to the rally decked in crocheted outfits in the colors of the Trans Pride flag.

“We exist and we are people just like anyone else and we are not harmful,” Lily said. “We are happy to have an open space to be together and just be happy, and not have to worry and think about the outside world, just relax.”

Speaking to the crowd before the march, Eve Devitt, an Idaho human rights activist, said that LGBTQ+ history is built on fighting for rights, which makes the community stronger. Devitt praised the crowd for showing up and marching.

“People may think that we are down, but the truth is that we are as invigorated as ever, because what they don’t understand in there is that the more they beat us down, the harder we get back up,” Devitt said.

After the speeches on the Capitol steps, the crowd marched to 8th Street and then back toward the Capitol.

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