‘Hetero Awesome Fest’ set to take place in Pride month is getting roasted in the comments

A bar-owner is planning to host a festival celebrating heterosexuality, right in the middle of Pride month.

Mark Fitzpatrick, the owner of the Old State Saloon, in Idaho’s capital Boise, said the two-day event follows on from his restaurant’s Heterosexual Awesomeness Month promotion last year, during which straight, cisgender men were given free beers every Monday in June. There was also a Heterosexual Couples Day each Wednesday where couples received a 15 per cent discount for being straight.

Fitzpatrick has previously said Pride month was about LGBTQ+ folks marching down the street “doing disgusting and criminal activities while demanding to be celebrated [and] the LGBTQ agenda is wicked, perverse and victimises children”.

According to a social media post, Hetero Awesome Fest will be held on 20 and 21 June, in Cecil D Andrus Park. The festival will have live music, speakers “who are on the frontlines defending traditional family values”, and food and drink.

A voiceover on a video promotion for the event declares: “This festival is more than just an event, it’s a declaration that faith, family and freedom are worth protecting.”

Fitzpatrick told NBC News that Hetero Awesome Fest and Heterosexual Awesomeness Month “aim to celebrate the traditional family unit and address concerns about cultural trends influenced by liberal progressivism”.

He went on to say: “Our event is not about targeting any group but about raising awareness of practices we find troubling, such as the encouragement of ‘gender transitions’ among children or their exposure to inappropriate content.

“We believe the traditional family is vital to society and deserves recognition and protection.”

@pinknews

A bar and restaurant owner in Idaho says he’s planning to hold a “Hetero Awesome Fest” near the state Capitol this June – an event timed to coincide with LGBTQ Pride Month. Mark Fitzpatrick, who owns the Old State Saloon near Boise, will host the two day festival on June 20 and 21, inspired by events last year that were held in response to Pride celebrations. The event is set to take place in Cecil D. Andrus Park, right across from the Idaho State Capitol. According to a promotional video shared on social media, it will include live music, local food and drink vendors, and speakers who say they are “on the front lines defending traditional family values.” Fitzpatrick said the idea for the festival came while planning his daughter’s birthday and wanting to avoid Pride events. In a video posted to social media, he recalled, “What if we celebrated God’s design for sexuality? What would that look like? And within a few seconds, I thought, ‘Man, heterosexuality is awesome.’” Fitzpatrick told NBC News there is no hate behind the event and that it isn’t intended to target any specific group. He said the aim is “raising awareness of practices we find troubling, such as the encouragement of ‘gender transitions’ among children or their exposure to inappropriate content.” However, Fitzpatrick has shared inflammatory views about the LGBTQ community on social media. In a series of Instagram comments, he claimed Pride Month allows “LGBTQ [people] to march down the street doing disgusting and criminal activities while demanding to be celebrated,” and accused the community of “encouraging children to cut off their seggs organs.” When it comes to funding the festival, Fitzpatrick said he’s contacted several corporations that have previously supported LGBTQ Pride events. However, the companies told him they usually only donate to registered nonprofits. Boise Pride Month events haven’t taken place in June since 2020. Organizers moved celebrations to September for better weather and originally due to COVID-19 precautions. #heterosexual #hetero #straight #pridemonth #pride #lgbtqia #idaho #Adoteumhabitinho

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These is not the first time “straight Pride” has come up in the US. In 2021 and 2022, events run by the National Straight Pride Coalition to celebrate “heterosexuality, masculinity, femininity, babies – born and unborn – and Western straight civilisation, our wonderful country and Christianity” descended into violence when participants, including white supremacist group the Proud Boys, clashed with LGBTQ+ counter-protesters.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with being heterosexual. However, the straight pride movement often appears to be less about actually being proud about the person you are, and more about stirring up hate at LGBTQ+ folks.

Under the Old State Saloon’s Instagram post announcing the event, some of the replies were tongue in cheek, taking a jab at the sort of people who would want to go to a straight pride event.

“Finally, a safe space for people who say ‘no homo’ after making eye contact,” one person wrote.

Another said: “I miss when heterosexual people were real,” while someone else wondered if heterosexual allies – aka LGBTQ+ people – were allowed to attend, and one wag even asked: “Is this a Saturday Night Live sketch?”

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.