Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Visibility As Power: A Historical Analysis Of The Boise Gay Pride Celebration, Jennifer Edwards

McNair Scholars Research Journal

This paper situates its analysis in a case study of the three watershed moments arising from the sixteenyear history of the Boise Pride Celebration. These moments reveal the impact that the tension between assimilation and liberation strategies have had in the birthing, changing, and shaping of both the Boise Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community’s struggles and its successes in becoming increasingly visible. Interviews and archival research demonstrate that the Pride Celebration originated in, grew and essentially thrived from this tension proving it necessary to transform the Boise LGBT community from a fearful, invisible minority functioning despite a conservative …