Idaho bar to host 'Hetero Awesome Fest' during Pride Month

The owner of a bar in Idaho has announced his plans for a "Hetero Awesome Fest" this June to counter LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

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The Old State Saloon bar is in Eagle, a suburb of Idaho's capital city, Boise. Its owner, Mark Fitzpatrick, announced a new event called "Hetero Awesome Fest" to take place this June with the goal to "address concerns about cultural trends influenced by liberal progressivism," per NBC News.

Last year, the Old State Saloon announced its "inaugural Heterosexual Awesomeness Month," which included "Hetero Male Mondays." These events promised that "any heterosexual male dressed like a heterosexual male will receive a free draft beer." Wednesdays also became "Heterosexual Couples Day," where heterosexual couples received 15 percent off their bill, per a previous NBC News story.

Fitzpatrick has told local news stations that Heterosexual Awesomeness Month was a response to Pride Month "getting so extreme." He specifically mentioned "the imagery that you see all month with parades, and getting to the point of nakedness, and things with people walking down the street, I can't get behind that."

Fitzpatrick also told NBC that he hasn't ever actually been to Boise during a Pride event.

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Now, Fitzpatrick's plans have grown.

This year's Hetero Awesome Fest has been scheduled for "two action packed days," June 20 and 21, in Cecil D. Andrus Park (named for a Democratic Idaho governor). Overall, the festival will feature music from bands "that share our vision," food and drinks, vendors, and speakers "who are on the front lines defending traditional family values," according to the event's social media pages.

"This festival is more than just an event; it's a declaration that faith, family, and freedom are worth protecting," the video says.

"The Hetero Awesome Fest and Heterosexual Awesomeness Month aim to celebrate the traditional family unit and address concerns about cultural trends influenced by liberal progressivism," Fitzpatrick, who has owned the bar for two years, wrote in an email. "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."

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Fitzpatrick has also announced that he launched a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, called Heterosexual Awesomeness, "to celebrate traditional family values and combat the woke mind virus."

"What if we celebrated God's design for sexuality? What would that look like? And within a few minutes, I had thought, 'Man, heterosexuality is awesome,'" Fitzpatrick says in a video posted to Instagram.

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The bar's official Instagram page also features videos talking about "detransitioners," as well as many clips of people promoting debunked conspiracy theories, including "Pizzagate," discourse about the 9/11 attacks, and even content arguing that the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel were "False Flag" events.