Idaho Bar Trolls Pride Month With ‘Hetero Awesomeness Month’

The owner of a bar in Idaho decided his response to Pride Month would be to celebrate “Heterosexual Awesomeness Month” because he can’t get behind” the imagery of rainbows and LGBTQ parades, calling it “extreme.” The Old State Saloon in Eagle, just outside of Boise, announced on its Facebook page its “inaugural Heterosexual Awesomeness Month” with discounts to straight folks.

“Each Monday will be Hetero Male Monday and any heterosexual male dressed like a heterosexual male will receive a free draft beer. Each Wednesday is Heterosexual Couples Day, and each heterosexual couple will receive 15% off their bill.”

I’m not sure who will judge whether someone meets the criteria of being dressed like a “heterosexual male.” From NBC News:

Bar owner Mark Fitzpatrick said he came up with the idea as June was approaching because he knew “all this stuff was coming,” according to KTVB, an NBC affiliate in Boise.

“But with my beliefs, I love people, but as far as being a biblical Christian, to celebrate it, I can’t do that,” Fitzpatric told KTVB. “And the last several years, it’s just been getting so extreme. So we created Heterosexual Awesomeness Month.”

Regarding what was “getting so extreme,” Fitzpatrick said, “the imagery that you see all month with parades and getting to the point of nakedness and things with people walking down the street, I can’t get behind that.”

You’ll notice in the interview, Fitzpatrick can’t even bring himself to say ‘Pride Month.’ He just keeps saying “its just been getting so extreme.” https://youtu.be/_A0OL2oB2DA?si=PypNgXo0uf_4JLzv There’s so much I could say here but I’ll just say: no one is forced to “participate” or “embrace” Pride Month if it’s not their thing.  No one. There are restaurants in my neighborhood that don’t appeal to me. So, instead of protesting them, I just keep driving. I don’t poke them, I don’t troll them. I leave them alone. The LGBTQ+ community makes up 7.6% of the U.S. population. WE organized Pride Month to say “Hey! Look! We made it through another year of homophobia and didn’t lose our fucking minds! We got to adulthood and somehow don’t hate ourselves.” All this man is doing is his own form of performative homophobia. Calm voice and steady eye while he answers the reporter’s questions, but it’s still homophobia. You can check out this op-ed from Michael Deeds at the Idaho Statesman, who agrees with me. Oh, and while this guy says there’s “no hate” in his “Heterosexual Awesomeness Month,” his bar also posted this on his Facebook page this week: