Idaho Radio Station Keeps Pride-Themed Logo Over Anti-LGBTQ Comments

After an influx of hateful, anti-LGBTQ comments surrounding their Pride Month rainbow flag logo, an Idaho-based classic rock radio station is clapping back by leaving its Pride-themed logo up for all of July as well.

At the beginning of June, Idaho’s 96.9 The Eagle KKGL replaced its typical Facebook banner with an LGBTQ-themed version in honor of Pride Month, for the second year in a row. While many listeners and Facebook friends praised the station for upholding this new annual tradition, other listeners began to blast the updated image with hate comments. Some listeners even went as far as to state that in supporting the LGBTQ community, the station is engaging in Satanic acts and therefore have lost a listener.

This year, the owners of the station chose to not to simply ignore the criticism. Instead, as Pride Month came to a close on July 1, The Eagle released another statement on their Facebook page:

“Flag stays up for another month, deal with it. If we lose fans that’s fine. If we keep getting harassed, then it will go another month. Plus, Freddie Mercury rules.”

This post made the station to go viral on Facebook, filling their comment section with various users who are extremely grateful for an influential Idaho-based media source to be so firm in their pro-LGBTQ stance. According to an article from the Idaho Statesman, The Eagle’s Facebook page has more than 377,000 likes and 384,000 followers—extraordinary numbers for any radio station, not to mention one licensed in Nampa, Idaho.

One user writes in the Facebook post, as both a member of the gay community and an Idaho resident:

“Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!! Idaho now has one redeeming quality! Being born and raised in southern Idaho hell, this is HUGE for me as it was a lonely place to grow up if you weren’t straight, cis or any of the other ‘acceptable’ things to be. Thank you for your visibility to younger generations! ❤️????????????????????????????”

The Eagle’s deliberate choice to continue to stand up for what they believe in, especially within a genre with so many queer superstars, has not and will not go unnoticed for the LGBTQ community in Idaho and beyond.

Photo courtesy of 96.9 The Eagle KKGL on Facebook