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Idaho Gov. Little signed HB 96, barring most non-approved flags — including LGBTQ+ pride flags — from government property

On April 3, 2025, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 96, which limits the flags that state and local government entities may display to an enumerated list — the U.S. flag, official state and municipal flags, U.S. military branch flags, Native American tribal flags, the POW/MIA flag, school flags, and foreign flags for special occasions — effectively barring LGBTQ+ pride flags from government property. The bill carried an emergency clause and took effect immediately on signing. Sponsors said the measure was meant to keep government entities from flying "flags of political causes," and legislators circulated fliers showing the pride flag at Boise City Hall before the votes.

Jurisdiction
Idaho
Location
Boise, Idaho

Abuses documented

Actors

On April 3, 2025, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 96 into law, restricting the flags that state and local government entities may display to an enumerated list: the U.S. flag, official state and municipal flags, U.S. military branch flags, recognized Native American tribal flags, the POW/MIA flag, flags of Idaho schools, colleges, and universities, and flags of other countries for special occasions. The bill carried an emergency clause and took effect immediately. It passed the House 52-17 and the Senate 20-11.

The measure was sponsored in the House by Rep. Heather Scott and in the Senate by Sen. Ben Toews. Before the votes, legislators circulated fliers showing pride flags displayed at Boise City Hall and along Harrison Boulevard, and Toews said the bill was meant to stop government entities from flying "flags of political causes that divided residents, like the Pride flag." By limiting official displays to a pre-approved list tied explicitly to removing the pride flag from public property, the law used state power to single out one community's expression for disfavored treatment.

Updates

2025-05-06 — Boise designated the pride flag an official city flag to keep flying it [3, 4]

On May 6, 2025, the Boise City Council passed a resolution, 5-1, designating the Progress Pride flag and the Donate Life flag as official city flags alongside the existing City of Boise flag. Because HB 96 permits official municipal flags, the designation let the city continue displaying the pride flag at City Hall under the law's own exception, formalizing a workaround Mayor Lauren McLean had maintained by keeping the flag flying after the bill was signed.

Why we recorded this

Civil rights include the ability of communities and their elected governments to express welcome and belonging without the state penalizing a particular message. House Bill 96 restricts the flags government entities may display to a pre-approved list, a limit that sponsors and supporting legislators tied directly to the LGBTQ+ pride flag flown at Boise City Hall. A law framed and advanced to bar one community's symbol of support from public property singles out a marginalized group's expression for disfavored treatment, which is why it belongs in a record of civil-rights erosion.

Sources

  1. House Bill 96 (2025) — official bill record — Idaho Legislature primary accessed July 11, 2026
  2. Governor Little signs bills on flags, urban renewal — BoiseDev investigative accessed July 11, 2026
  3. Boise City Council votes to recognize the Pride flag as an official city flag — Idaho News 6 (KIVI) investigative accessed July 11, 2026
  4. Boise makes Pride, Donate Life month flags official — BoiseDev investigative accessed July 11, 2026
  5. In Boise, Idaho, a political game of capture the flag — Courthouse News Service investigative accessed July 11, 2026

See also