BOISE, Idaho — An Eagle bar has gotten local attention in the 18 months it’s been open after holding promotional events such as Conspiracy Theory Trivia Night – where you can win an AR-15 – Christian singles mingle nights and hosting flat-earther events. However, that attention is nothing compared to the global reach they’ve received with their latest promotion.
Throughout June, Old State Saloon will celebrate Heterosexual Awesomeness Month. On Monday, any heterosexual man can get a free beer, as long as they are dressed like a hetero man. On Wednesday, there is a deal on food for hetero couples and Thursdays are set aside for hetero women.
After the announcement was posted on social media on May 29, the post went viral.
KTVB went to the Old State Saloon on Wednesday during the lunch hour to see what it was all about. On arrival, the tables were filling up, something owner Mark Fitzpatrick said was not a usual Wednesday for them.
“We don’t usually get a crowd in like this,” Fitzpatrick said. “We don’t even have a sign on the building yet. I’m still trying to get a sign on the building.”
However, inside the Eagle saloon, there is a sign reading “Heterosexual Awesomeness Month,” which Fitzpatrick said is in response to Pride Month.
“Why is it so special for them to celebrate a whole entire month, but why can’t we celebrate that here too? And we’re just here to support him 1000%,” said Anny Murillo, a frequent customer of the bar and grill.
Micah Delbridge told KTVB he could have gone anywhere for lunch, but he wanted to support the Old State Saloon because it was “bucking a trend.” When asked if it was necessary, Delbridge said, “I don’t know if it’s necessary, but why not.”
As for the “why,” KTVB asked Fitzpatrick, who moved to Idaho six years ago from California because Idaho is “everything California isn’t.”
When asked how he came up with this idea, he said, “June was approaching, and all this stuff was coming. But with my beliefs, I love people, but as far as being a biblical Christian, to celebrate it, I can’t do that. And the last several years, it’s just been getting so extreme. So we created Heterosexual Awesomeness Month.”
KTVB asked Fitzpatrick to clarify what he meant by “getting so extreme.”
“The imagery that you see a month with parades and getting to the point of nakedness and things with people walking down the street, I can’t get behind that,” he said.
Fitzpatrick later said he doesn’t know if it’s happening locally because he hasn’t been to Boise during its pride festival.
“I’m always going to side with what God says and in his word, it’s going to be what’s moral and not morally righteousness,” Fitzpatrick said. “If the Bible says it’s a sin to act out in homosexuality, then I’m going to agree with what the Bible says. That doesn’t mean I don’t love homosexuals, and it doesn’t mean I don’t love people. Just because you love somebody, you’re going to jump behind them and support them in every single decision they make in life it’s not a requirement.”
Fitzpatrick continued, “I didn’t make the rules. God made the rules. I’m just going off what the Bible says, and it is sinful to act out on that.”
He said the positive reaction he’s received from around the county and the world is because they feel the same way he does.
“I was feeling just kind of fed up with the extremeness of [Pride Month], and it’s the expectation that you’re supposed to jump behind and support something. People are just rejecting it they’re standing up and saying enough is enough we don’t want all this,” Fitzpatrick said.
When asked about it being in response to Pride Month, he said it involves “no hate at all, it’s a love thing.”
“There are people commenting online this is a publicity stunt. This is definitely marketing for sure, but it’s also celebrating heterosexuality and you can do both of those things at once,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m a business owner, but I also truly love it when people come in here and engage in conversation and learn something about each other. And they get to talk like this to each other, and at the end of it, they realize they we’re probably not as far apart as we think we are.”
Fitzpatrick told KTVB that those who wanted nothing to do with the Heterosexual Awesomeness Month could have left it alone and not responded with hateful comments. He said maybe this promotion wouldn’t have gone global.
