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Department

Human Rights Studies

Disciplines

Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication | Social Influence and Political Communication

Abstract

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 climate, into an increasingly visible, viable community and constituency. The balance between assimilation and liberation strategy, as evidenced by this case study, was and remains crucial to liberate and protect LGBT people from the threat and reality of legal discrimination and the de-humanizing stereotypes used to deny them their civil and human rights.

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Faculty Mentor

Dr. Jill Gill