Local LGBTQ community responds to marriage equality memorial
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IDAHO FALLS — “I’m tired. I find this exhausting,” said Bryce Johnson, a lifelong Idahoan and gay man who found out last week that House Joint Memorial 1 had passed the Idaho House State Affairs Committee.
The memorial is a letter addressed to the United States Supreme Court condemning Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) as an “illegitimate overreach.” The case allowed same-sex marriages across the country. The memorial’s sponsor, Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, said she wants the conversation about same-sex marriage put “back in the hands of the states.”
On Monday, the memorial passed the Idaho House of Representatives 46-24 and will now head to the Senate. During Monday’s debate on the House floor, Scott repeatedly reiterated her position that marriage is a state issue.
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“I would ask you to substitute any other issue and ask yourself, ‘Do I want the federal government creating rights for us, for Idahoans,’” Scott said on the House floor, as the Idaho Capital Sun reported. “So what if the federal government redefined property rights or nationalized water rights? What does that look like if they came up with some new fair use policy or came up with different ways to define property rights? That is not a decision for the judges; it is a decision for the states.”
But for many in eastern Idaho’s LGBTQ community, the memorial doesn’t feel like a statement on state versus federal rights. They say it feels like an assault on their ability to marry and possibly a move aimed at harming LGBTQ families.
“Just let us live our lives. Let us marry who we want to marry,” Johnson said.
LGBTQ community outcry after committee vote
During last week’s House committee hearing, 17 people testified against the memorial before it passed with a 13-2 vote along party lines.
The hearing motivated prominent members of eastern Idaho’s LGBTQ community to raise their voices on the issue. One of them was Dusty Bee, an Idaho Falls DJ and former radio personality who came out as gay in 2018.
Bee uploaded a video to his social media in response to Scott’s memorial.
“I don’t want to talk about my sexuality,” Bee told EastIdahoNews.com. “I want it to be a small part of who I am, and it really is. So, I resisted making the video because I’d rather just go through my life and not have to worry about it. But the more I thought about it, the more I just couldn’t.”
Bee’s video criticized local legislators and took issue with some of the language used about faith during the committee hearing to justify the memorial. He told EastIdahoNews.com that faith is still very much a part of his family’s life.
“My sons and I pray every day. We attend church,” Bee said.
Bee’s video, which has since been taken down on Facebook, had nearly 12,000 views. It has over 40,000 views on TikTok.
“I could give you every detail and every hardship and every painful thing that happened to me because of these stupid laws, and it wouldn’t matter. Politicians don’t care.”
Bee was previously married to a man and is grateful he had the experience.
“People don’t think about what it would be like to not be able to marry the person they love,” Bee said. “When I met my ex-husband, it was just like bang, out of the blue, instant love. It was the first time in my life I ever felt that. I’m so glad we got married. I’m so glad I had the experience of loving him and having a family with him. Everybody deserves to have that.”
Nathan Sobers, a gay man and pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Soda Springs, expressed similar frustration at the legislature’s effort. He told EastIdahoNews.com that Obergefell v. Hodges benefited him by allowing him to marry.
“It was a matter of equality,” Sobers said. “It was a matter of fairness and not having to be afraid of having to be relocated because of my work to a place where I was going to be treated as a second-class citizen.”
Jess Atteberry, a representative for the Queer Club Idaho, told EastIdahoNews.com political statements such as these give people a chance to discriminate. “The idea of states’ rights has become something that’s used as a cudgel against minorities,” Atteberry said.
Richard Santillan, a local drag queen in Blackfoot, said the memorial is “disappointing and disturbing.”
“I don’t think this is a good use of legislative time and taxpayer money. They need to focus more on the issues and concerns of the citizens that will help improve lives, not create more hate and take away our rights,” he said.
Current and former politicians weigh-in
During last week’s committee hearing, Scott said, “this memorial is about upholding federalism and a state’s right to make our own decisions. It is not about defining marriage. It’s about who should be defining marriage.”
One of the people who spoke for the memorial was former Rep. Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot.
“I believe the state of Idaho should have the opportunity to choose to align their policy with these timeless truths,” Young told the committee.
In a follow-up interview with EastIdahoNews.com, she reiterated, “The memorial is about returning the discussion to the states. Top-down tyranny tramples every right, including the fundamental rights of people of faith.”
But not everyone agreed with those sentiments.
During the hearing, Rep. Todd Achilles, D-Boise, pointed out that before Obergefell was decided, same-sex marriage was already legal in Idaho because of Latta v. Otter (2013). The namesake, Sue Latta, was in attendance and gave her own testimony.
“I represent myself and my wife in the strongest opposition to this memorial,” Latta said. “Traci and I have been together for over 21 years. We own two businesses here in Boise. We own a home. We are proud parents and grandparents, and we love our life here. We are not asking for special rights. We’re asking for equal rights. To build our life and live securely in a community that we love, surrounded by the people that we love.”
Latta has lived in Idaho since 1992, and her wife has lived in Idaho since 1976. They were married in 2008 in California.
“Our marriage wasn’t recognized in the state of Idaho, denying us the basic protections enjoyed by our neighbors, our clients, and our colleagues,” Latta said.
In 2013, with the help of attorneys Deborah Ferguson and Craig Durham, Latta filed a lawsuit against the state of Idaho. The federal district court in Idaho ruled in their favor, and the 9th Circuit Court also ruled in their favor. In October 2014, marriages between same-sex couples began in Idaho.
Achilles asked Scott whether she had legal counsel on if Latta would still stand if Obergefell was overturned. Scott said she did not.
Achilles also noted the financial impact of the memorial.
“If Obergefell is overturned, same-sex couples will be denied the rights of heterosexual couples,” Achilles said. “Heterosexual couples enjoy the social security benefits, VA benefits, filing their state and federal income taxes as a married couple, being able to make medical decisions for their spouse, and putting two names on the deed of a house. In fact, when you look at the list, there’s over 1300 rights and benefits that couples receive from being married. We’re effectively putting a tax on same-sex couples that opposite-sex couples don’t have.”
Since Latta v. Otter was decided in Idaho, some lawmakers believe the memorial is a waste of legislative time and money.
Rep. Ben Fuhriman, R-Shelley, told EastIdahoNews.com, “One of the reasons I ran for the legislature was to stop the culture wars and to really start focusing on real problems inside our state. This is just grandstanding, and it’s just an opportunity to try to make a statement. This allows representatives to go back to their districts and say, ‘Look what I did. I’m fighting for families and for traditional America.’”
Backers of the memorial
The memorial has the backing of several powerful conservative lobbying groups such as the Idaho Freedom Foundation, the Christian Idaho Family Policy Center, and MassResistance. This out-of-state anti-LGBTQ+ organization has previously protested at LGBTQ events in eastern Idaho.
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Arthur Shopper, the field director for MassResistance, spoke at the hearing and shared his gratitude for Scott.
“The Supreme Court made a decision and imposed a ruling it did not have the right or authority to make,” Shopper said. “Two justices weighed in on this decision who had overseen same-sex weddings prior. They were not impartial triers of fact, and they should have recused themselves.”
Shopper claimed that queer people are not born with their identity.
“There is an argument that was made that overturning Obergefell would undermine the marriage of interracial couples,” Shopper said. “People are born black, Hispanic, or otherwise. They are not born homosexual.”
Fuhriman told EastIdahoNews.com that it’s not uncommon for lobbying groups to get behind actions like this.
“Some people believe this is how you get a coalition,” Fuhriman said. “They think that this is how you get more states to follow suit, and that’s how you make change.”
Now that it has passed Idaho House of Representatives, House Joint Memorial 1 will be sent to the Idaho Senate for consideration. If the Senate takes the memorial up and passes it, it does not require the signature of the governor.
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