Flag Gate 2025

Mayor McLean has drawn a line in the sand

On April 3, 2025, Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 96 into law. The bill was simple, less than one page long. I’ve pasted the whole thing here, formatted for easier reading:

67-2303A. FLAGS -- PROPER PROTOCOL.

1. As used in this section, "governmental entity" means the state of Idaho or any county, municipality, special district, or any other political subdivision or governmental instrumentality of or within the state other than a school, college, or university.

2. A governmental entity shall not display a flag on its property other than the following:

   1. The United States flag;

   2. The official flag of a governmental entity as defined in this section;

   3. Official flags of any state in the United States;

   4. Official flags of any of the military branches and units of the United States;

   5. The POW/MIA flag as provided for in section 67-2303, Idaho Code; and

   6. Official flags of Indian tribes.

3. The division of veterans services is hereby authorized to promulgate rules directing the proper protocol for the location and display of flags flown on state property.

This law went into effect immediately, however, Lauren McLean, the mayor of Boise, believes that the law does not apply to her. Perhaps imagining herself standing in the footsteps of Rosa Parks and Mahatma Gandhi, McLean has decided to keep the LGBTQ+ flag flying in front of Boise City Hall.

Image from KIVI-TV

Conservatives have reacted with outrage, which I believe is precisely what Mayor McLean wants to see. Whereas we see her defying state law in the name of a destructive ideology, she is building street cred with her supporters on the left. The same sorts of leftist activists who have been vandalizing Teslas, who gathered to see Sen. Bernie Sanders and Cong. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Nampa this week, think McLean is a hero.

Local media seems to think she’s a hero. Perhaps Mayor McLean believes this will burnish her progressive bona fides in a time when the left is reeling from the early successes of the second Trump Administration. Champions are in short supply on the left these days — their biggest draw is an 83-year-old socialist from Vermont who has been mouthing the same platitudes he probably heard from Lenin himself.

Attorney General Raúl Labrador sent a letter to Mayor McLean today urging her to follow the law. H96 did not include any specific provisions for enforcement, so there is uncertainty about any potential legal remedies. Labrador wrote:

As elected officials, we are all guided by the values and beliefs that led us to seek public office and, at times, there might be state or federal laws that are contrary to our beliefs. However, as elected officials we have a duty to comply with the laws of the land. In fact, as Mayor of Idaho’s capital and largest city, you took an oath to uphold the law—even in instances where you may personally disagree. That oath is not conditional. It binds you and me to the rule of law, and it is essential to maintaining the public’s trust in our institutions.

Though you are required to govern the city in accordance with the law, you have instead chosen to defy the Legislature—and by extension, the people of Idaho whom the Legislature represents—and to act as though your personal political views exempt you from compliance. This action sends a clear message that if an official disagrees with a law passed by the duly elected representatives of the people, she is not obliged to comply.

The left has always had a tenuous relationship with the rule of law, with many on that side of the spectrum believing that their own sense of the greater good justifies any actions. Yet I suggest that you do not see Mayor McLean’s tantrum over the flag as a sign of the left’s strength; rather it is a sign that they are losing. Idaho is becoming more conservative every day, returning to the traditional values and respect for the rule of law that made America great to begin with.

Be of good cheer and keep up the good fight!

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