Gay rights activists were arrested Thursday and jailed after refusing to voluntarily lift an hours-long Senate blockade aimed at pressuring lawmakers into backing anti-discrimination protections.
In all, there were 32 arrests throughout the day, said Idaho State Police spokeswoman Teresa Baker, including seven around noon. Six people were cited for trespassing and another for misdemeanor battery.
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Thursday’s action follows a similar demonstration Feb. 3 when 44 protesters were arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing.
Several of those demonstrators were arrested again Thursday.
So far, however, GOP lawmakers have declined to hold a hearing on adding add four words — sexual orientation and gender identity — to the Idaho Human Rights Act that currently bans workplace and housing discrimination based on race, gender or religion.
Former State Sen. Nicole LeFavour of Boise, a Democrat who was Idaho’s first openly gay lawmaker until she resigned in 2012, said Republicans’ refusal to consider her group’s grievances amounts to tacit approval of violence she says is being committed against gay people across the state.
"Senators have remained silent, while people have been beaten in alleyways," said LeFavour, among the first to be arrested Thursday.
LeFavour, who wasn’t among those transported to jail by bus, was briefly detained and cited for attempting to block a back entrance to the Senate from being used by lawmakers and other members of the public seeking to leave the chambers about noon.
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Much like the Feb. 3 protest, Thursday’s demonstrators wore black-and-white "Add the 4 Words Idaho" T-shirts and covered their mouths with their hands, a symbolic gesture intended to show they’ve been silenced after eight years of seeking discrimination protections.
Dozens arrested, cited after gay rights protest at Idaho capitol | The Salt Lake Tribune
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