IDAHO: Police Arrest 43 LGBT Activists For Occupying State Senate Entrance

Via the Associated Press:

Police have arrested dozens of gay rights activists, saying their protest blocked entrances to the Idaho Senate chambers for more than two hours. Idaho State Police say they took 43 people into custody Monday after the demonstrators stood shoulder to shoulder and prevented lawmakers from getting past. Former state Sen. Nicole LeFavour, the Idaho Legislature’s first openly gay lawmaker and an organizer of the protest, had said the group would block the entrances until lawmakers agreed to take up a bill adding protections for gay and transgender people to the Idaho Human Rights Act. If lawmakers “get a bill through committee, we would let them in to do their work,” said LeFavour, before she and the others were arrested. The arrests began after Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill attempted to enter the chamber about 11 a.m. but was blocked, police said.

"Add The Four Words" refers to the campaign to have "gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender" added to state employment and housing anti-discrimination laws. The GOP has blocked the change for years.