Will there be Pride flags on Boise’s Harrison Blvd. for Pride month?
Jordan Hall wanted to find a solution.
The 41-year-old Boise man, who has helped place the annual Pride flags on Harrison Boulevard in recent years, thought he and his lawyer had found a way to keep that tradition going, even after lawmakers closed a loophole that had allowed governments to fly the rainbow Pride flag.
The law applies to the North End tradition because the flagpoles on Harrison are city-owned. But even though the law prevents governments from flying most flags, the law said those restrictions “shall not apply to any temporary parade or assembly on the property of a governmental entity.” Hall wanted to use that temporary exception.
So on April 8, Hall filed a request with the city of Boise asking to hold an event at McAuley Park on June 1 and June 30, along with a temporary monthlong display of rainbow flags and ribbons along Harrison.
But Boise staff rejected his request, and Hall believes their reasoning doesn’t make sense.
“This is one area where I think they just are getting it wrong,” Hall said.
That’s because the North End Neighborhood Association has an agreement with the city allowing the association to put up flags. But that agreement says that anyone other than the association needs to get city approval. That’s why Hall went to the city instead of the neighborhood association.
But the city, in rejecting the request, told him to ask the neighborhood association.
Boise spokesperson Bonnie Shelton did not respond to an email asking about the section of the agreement that requires people to get city approval. Even though Boise staff rejected his request on the flags, Parks and Recreation Director Sara Arkle ultimately approved allowing him to put up rainbow ribbons on city-owned trees on the verdant North End street.
The Pride flag represents a lot, he said. There was a time in his life where he said “coming out seemed like a very distant reality,” like when he was on active duty during the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” era.
Hall said the city’s decision was “overwhelmingly disappointing” and that the law’s exception for temporary assemblies should allow for the Pride flags on Harrison, he said.
“It’s convenience for them. This is a convenience decision for the city, and for some of us, this is our life,” Hall said on Friday, sitting on a shady bench at McAuley Park. “I don’t have the convenience of deciding to not be who I am today, tomorrow. I don’t have the convenience of deciding that the Pride flag doesn’t mean as much this June 1st as it did any other June 1st.”
How we got here
The Pride flags on Harrison and at Boise City Hall have drawn the ire of some conservatives, who argue that governments should be neutral and that flying the Pride flag excludes people who aren’t part of the LGBTQ+ community. In 2025, lawmakers took their first shot at taking those flags down.
But the law they passed, restricting governments from flying most flags, didn’t have an enforcement mechanism. In Boise and Bonners Ferry, city council members approved flying the Pride flag and the Canadian flag, respectively.
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean has proudly touted her support for the LGBTQ+ community, wrapping the flagpoles at City Hall in rainbow colors this year and speaking at the LatinX Pride festival in 2025.
In 2026, lawmakers tried again. Rep. Ted Hill, R-Eagle, got one of his bills over the finish line, adding financial penalties, allowing the attorney general to sue and closing the loophole that Boise used. State senators, however, added an exception that seems to allow for the Canadian flag.
Minutes after Gov. Brad Little signed the bill into law on March 31, Boise took its Pride flag down.
In response, Boise spent $6,000 wrapping its flagpoles in rainbow colors and adding rainbow Pride art to City Hall. The flag law’s sponsor, Hill, said at the time he wasn’t surprised, but said it was insulting. And the city’s moves prompted a $5 million tort claim from a Boise man who said he wanted a cross at City Hall if Boise was going to have rainbow displays.
It’s unclear if the city will take its opposition much further; McLean indicated in early May that the city isn’t planning to sue over the Pride flag law. “We’ve moved beyond that bill, because we’re following the law,” she said.
What happens now?
After the City Hall Pride flag came down, Hall set out to look for a solution, he said. Others are also trying to figure out how to proceed, amid differing opinions on whether there’s a legal way to hang the Pride flag.
The neighborhood association can put up flags on Harrison by itself, per the agreement, but it won’t be putting up Pride flags this summer after state law banned flying the Pride flag on government property, Donna Llewellyn, the neighborhood association’s president, said in an email.
Llewellyn agreed in an email that no one but the association can put up flags unless the city approves, adding that only flags allowed by state law can be hung, Llewellyn said.
“However, in response, a grassroots community group has formed that will be helping neighbors to show their support of the LGBTQ+ community by handing out free Pride flags and yard signs that link to LGBTQ+ resources and organizations,” Llewellyn wrote.
Council member Jimmy Hallyburton, in a video and post shared in late May, wrote that the new law made it illegal to hang the Pride flag along Harrison. But he also pointed to the new “neighbor-driven initiative” to put out yard signs and flags on private property. A GoFundMe for the effort had raised over $3,000 as of Monday morning.
“I’m proud of how the city of Boise has been continuing to stand up for our community members,” Hallyburton said in the video, a rainbow flag twirling in the wind behind his head. “I’m also proud to see how neighbors are standing up for each other.”
Hall still maintains that he supports the city and the mayor, even though he thinks they could have let him hang the flags. He said he’d like to get the law revised to provide a definition for “temporary.” But he still has hope.
“This too shall pass,” Hall said. “I don’t intend to give up. If I have to fight, and they go up one day in June, then I will be happy.”
