Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Idaho Bar Ripped After Organizing 'Hetero Awesome Fest' During Pride Month

Hetero Awesome Festival logo
@oldstatesaloon/Instagram

The owner of the Old State Saloon announced they'd be hosting a "Hetero Awesome Fest" in Boise outside the state Capitol building in late June to counter LGTBQ+ Pride Month.

An Idaho bar is drawing criticism after announcing it will be hosting a "Hetero Awesome Festival" (is that really the BEST name you could come up with? Maybe workshop it a bit more...) in response to LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

The grown adults who run Old State Saloon in the Boise suburb of Eagle are convinced that "traditional family values" are under assault because of Pride, so they will be holding their event on June 20 and 21 outside Idaho's state Capitol, to coincide with Pride celebrations.


Old State Saloon announced their celebration with an Instagram video that is frankly hilarious in its delusion.

It's exactly what you'd expect—a bunch of far-right grievance politics over things that are not happening but which Fox News and other propagandists have been insisting are real for decades.

As owner Mark Fitzpatrick put it in an email to NBC News:

"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."
"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."

That's the publicist-approved version. The video itself was a lot more specific:

"The Battle Lines of Heterosexual Awesomeness ... are the unyielding front where we plant our flag for family, truth, and liberty—no retreat, no surrender."

Retreat from what or surrender to whom, the video does not specify, likely because the threat is completely invented in their own gay-obsessed brains.

Anyway, it goes on to say that Fitzpatrick and his saloon are "slugging it out against the gutless enemies of traditional values" which includes "the LGBTQ+ agenda's anti-kin chaos," which sounds like something Yosemite Sam would say while shooting off his pistols if he were a weird conservatives with an inexplicable fixation on gay sex.

As you might guess, Fitzpatrick's announcement hasn't been very popular, including with the sponsors he's tried to line up, which he told NBC have all ignored his requests for donations.

It didn't go over well on social media, either, unless mockery was the goal. Cuz there was plenty of that!

Just for the record, Fitzgerald told NBC that his event is "a love thing" and there will be "no hate at all" despite claiming on social media that LGBTQ+ people are "criminals" who cut off children's genitals.

Lots of absolutely normal stuff going on at the Old State Saloon so the fest should be a good time!

More from News/lgbtq

Gavin Newsom; Screenshot of Pete Hegseth
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images; MS Now

Gavin Newsom Rips Pete Hegseth For Suggesting Press Is Only Reporting On U.S. Casualties To Make Trump Look Bad

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was criticized by California Governor Gavin Newsom after Hegseth accused the press of only reporting on the negative effects of President Donald Trump's attacks on Iran.

Trump has said that the U.S. military was "knocking the crap out of Iran" but the "big wave" of attacks is still yet to come, and has not ruled out putting boots on the ground, saying the war is progressing "way ahead of schedule." Trump has urged Iranians to revolt, even as the regime reshuffles leadership following the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and some of his associates.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @harryl1223's TikTok video
@harryl1223/TikTok

Cynthia Erivo Praised For Calmly De-Escalating Tense Confrontation With Agitated Man Outside London Theater

Cynthia Erivo continues to show just how talented she is as she recently debuted her one-woman production of Dracula in London's West End.

Earlier this week, Erivo appeared in the backstage lot to speak to fans after one of her shows. But before she stepped out, an altercation had occurred, and a man was making a scene.

Keep ReadingShow less
Padma Lakshmi (left) reacts during an appearance on The Daily Show as Vice President JD Vance (right) stands with his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance (right).
@thedailyshow/Instagram; Antoine Gyori - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Padma Lakshmi Hilariously Roasts JD Vance And His Wife Over Atrocious 'Ranch Dressing' Meal

Padma Lakshmi served up a top-tier helping of judgment for Vice President JD Vance’s questionable meal choice for his wife, Usha Vance.

The second lady, Usha Vance (née Chilukuri), is an American lawyer who made history as the first Indian American and first Hindu to hold the role. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Andhra Pradesh, India.

Keep ReadingShow less
Chloe Kim; P!nk
NBC

Olympian Chloe Kim Just Gushed To P!nk About Loving One Of Her Songs—Except It's Not A P!nk Song

Most of us have gotten our pop queens mixed up a time or two, but few of us have done so on national television—while talking to the pop queen in question.

But Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim sure has!

Keep ReadingShow less
Elmo; Zohran Mamdani
Paul Zimmerman/WireImage/Getty Images; Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

Elmo Just Asked His Followers 'Where Have You Been?'—And Zohran Mamdani Had The Purest Response

Elmo, the furry red childlike monster from Sesame Street designed by Caroly Wilcox, began his life as a generic "baby monster" background filler in the 1979-1980 season of the long-running children's television program.

Originally having a gruff voice supplied by various puppeteers, Elmo found his falsetto-voiced, loving persona when Kevin Clash took over in 1985. Elmo was transformed into a three-and-a-half-year-old character designed to connect with the show's audience of preschoolers.

Keep ReadingShow less