Idaho’s conservative reputation hinders recruitment of talented young workers, tech leaders say

[ErikJ]

Idaho: Gay friendly? Anti-gay? Neutral?

Idaho’s reputation hinders recruitment of talented young workers, but sexuality is just one of several issues, tech leaders say

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Tech workers are the kind of young highly educated and highly paid workers that Idaho leaders say they want more of.
But some techies say the welcoming image is being undermined by a sense that Idaho is unwelcoming to gays — a perception deepened by national attention this month to the Idaho Legislature’s handling of gay-rights issues.

Forty-four protesters were arrested Feb. 3 outside the Idaho Senate as part of a failed eight-year campaign to “Add the Words” and extend civil rights protections to gays. Thirty-two were arrested in another protest Thursday. Meanwhile, Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, proposed the Idaho Free Exercise of Religion Act to let people refuse to serve customers whose practices offend their religious beliefs. Luker withdrew the bill last week.

“Most techies are on the progressive, ‘you live your life, I’ll live mine’ side of things,” said Ryan Woodings, founder and CEO of Metageek, which makes wireless network equipment. “If you look at some proposed legislation and changed ‘gay’ to ‘black,’ you’d think, ‘wow. This is 1960.’ ”

Gov. Butch Otter, a Republican, says Idaho doesn’t have an image problem — or a business recruiting problem — stemming from concerns about gay rights. Not so, said C.K. Haun, a senior director and developer of technical services at Apple Inc. who lives in Boise. Otter’s statements are “ill-informed and incorrect,” Haun wrote in a letter to the Statesman. “He has not had personal experience because companies, particularly in technology, simply don’t consider Idaho for, partially, its noninclusive reputation.”
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Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/02/23/3045530/idaho-gay-friendly-anti-gay-neutral.html#storylink=cpy

[RKP5637]

1. Other states had best pay attention to this. I was lucky to be in the top echelon of

high tech for decades and none of us would have EVER accepted a job in these crackpot states of today.

[theHandpuppet]

10. They're getting the message: Bigotry is Bad for Business.

I doubt they'll ever learn.

[2naSalit]

2. Thing is

Idaho doesn't really care, both in the State House and in the general population because they want a one-religion state and they are intent on making sure the majority is "of the church". Lived there for well over a decade and if you don't "belong" to the sect, you will have a really hard time finding work, housing, starting a business, you name it.

[RKP5637]

3. I think they should just secede from the United States! Good riddance. They can join United Lunacy!

[2naSalit]

4. Noooooooooooo!

Idaho has some of the most beautiful PUBLIC LAND in the lower 48 (Frank Church Wilderness River of No Return) and a bunch of other wild land that they should not be allowed to mess up any more than they already have! they can go someplace else, leave us OUR land (68% of Idaho is public land BTW).

I would move back there in a heartbeat if the LDS were moved elsewhere. Sadly, they have proclaimed the vast majority of the Rocky Mountains and western public lands as their zion so they are defacto claiming it as their own. They also claim they are the appropriate stewards of the land bis god's will (according to them) and that they should be left to manage it without oversight... yeah, right.

I am in favor of the public land paradigm and wouldn't want any private entity managing or assuming ownership. they can go relocate away from the lands that we all own collectively... all they want to do is kill off the wolves and harvest the forests and mine all the mineral without having to slean up after they finish raping the land.


Screw 'em, make them move... and pay taxes!

[RKP5637]

6. Good point! Send in the troops and take back all the land! Kick them out as

unfit to be Americans. Religion will be the downfall of the United States. More and more the US is becoming less of a democracy as the crackpots seize control. Problem is, too may Americans are too trusting and if one invokes the god word they give them a free pass to do whatever.

[2naSalit]

8. I agree

it would appear that many have figured out that the godword thing is the get-out-whatever-free ticket... that needs to come to an end asap if not sooner. As if invoking a religion (except Islam of course) brings on an immediate exemption from anything relative to rules, laws, common sense or fairness.

[IDemo]

17. I've lived here over 40 years

And that has never been my experience. Although I've no doubt it does apply to large parts of the state, the eastern side in particular, I don't see it here in Boise, and I have worked at two large high-techs (take a wild guess). Almost the entire workgroup was Mormon at my previous employer and they were great to work with. The boss even gave me a good referral at my present employer, very likely the one that got me the job. The Treasure Valley and Sun Valley are more purple than neon red like the rest of the state.

[2naSalit]

20. I was in

SE part of the state, guess which city... and even the Univ. campus is overwhelmed. The land-swap deals on campus are quite telling. I went for over a year without finding work once I was not a student anymore, a rather closed community. All my friends who still live there are having the same issues, the ones who aren't retired. Doesn't matter how long you've been a part of the community, you're still a pariah if you don't have that "certain" backing. If you are independently wealthy, that's another story.

I've heard that the Boise area is more independent as with the Sun Valley area, but you have Butch...

[IDemo]

24. If I'm not mistaken, much of SE Idaho has a higher LDS population per capita than Utah

I hadn't heard about land swap deals. I know Pokey is not generally thought of as a great place to live by most in Boise, but my wife lived near the campus and loved it.

Butch Otter, lol. I lived here when we had the greatest governor ever of the state - Democrat Cecil Andrus, who I met a couple of times on the campus of BSU. It seems surreal that voters here were ever sane enough to elect him, more than once, along with Senator Frank Church. Those times are gone forever, I'm afraid.

My family goes back to the 19th Century in Idaho, and we have the most spectacular scenery of the lower 48, but if I found a better paying job in Washington or (western!) Oregon, I'd be out of here in a heartbeat.

[2naSalit]

25. Indeed

SE ID has a high density of the "gang" but it's about the same up in the panhandle too. I felt a lot less secure in the panhandle though. I was near campus in Pokey too and rather cozy while attending the U. I remember Cecil Andrus, he was still in office when I arrived in the state. He was the best gov the state ever saw, I think too. And Frank Church, I heard, was phenomenal... some friends knew him well.

I went to western WA/OR and it was odd there, too many people for me, I'm a bit of a recluse/introvert. So I moved to rural MT and like it here so far, one decade into it. There are plenty of LDS here, but most are not quite as strict about it, they don't require everyone around them to belong.

I can't leave the mountains and forests and wildlife, I just can't do it. I think if I had to live in a city, I'd go nuts. Even Pokey is too big for me at this point, especially since I've become accustomed to life in a cabin in the woods.

[RainDog]

5. I couldn't stand to live in a place with that attitude

The state I'm in is backward. I wouldn't live here if I had other viable options within my circumstances (along with being legally prohibited, because I agreed to share custody when I could've had sole, from moving when I had a job offer elsewhere.)

But the city I live in has a high ranking for homosexual friendliness, there were people from 39 other nations here who attended school with my kids, world cultures are celebrated, not feared, the county has elected green party candidates in the past... I'm not from the state, so I have no other real connection to it outside my city. I view myself as a resident of my city, not my state. I don't i.d. with the state at all.

However, yes, this is an issue for any place that wants to attract businesses with "cultural capital" that matters to the employees they want to attract. Of course, the problem then becomes that the upper class people within those businesses drive out the artists and musicians by making it too expensive to live somewhere... that's the usual trajectory.

Religiosity, bigotry... those are not things that attract people to move other places.

I talked about this for years - the reality is that America is much more liberal than our politics would lead people to believe.

[RKP5637]

7. We all left the state we use to live in to let it die as a bigoted homophobic place. Not too many

people I know that are moving forward with their lives want to be stuck in some forsaken place that thinks bigotry, homophobia, racism, persecution, stupidness and kicking the poor and migrants around for sport are state values to support and be proud of.

[RainDog]

9. There are ill-minded ppl everywhere

Even in my town and even in the most progressive town in the nation. One time some frat boys stood right beside me when I was sitting on a bench on the sidewalk, downtown, after lunch and they made it a point to try to goad me. At first I didn't know they were doing this because I am a live and let live person myself. Anyway... one guy was practically right up in my face and he said "Yeah, we're gonna make the town republican." So, I offhandedly said, no one has to live here if they don't like it - I assume the city has had a Republican mayor at some point, but not that I know of. Anyway, the guy goes, "Oh, you must be a lesbian." The restaurant I was in front of is owned by a locally famous "out" gay man....who knows what his thinking was, maybe he thought I would be offended. But I just said, "No. But you are obviously a stupid motherf*$#$%." And I stood up, as he and his frat boy pals were getting into their SUV across the street and yelled out, "Let me make sure I get your car license number..." And he drove off and yelled, "I didn't do anything!" and I said "Too bad it's not be illegal to be an asshole."

so, yeah, there are annoying people everywhere.

[tblue37]

12. A group of men publicly harrassing a woman like that is

deliberate intimidation. I bet a cop actually would have been interested in that behavior--at least our liberal town in a red state would not permit such behavior if the victim reported it.

[RainDog]

14. It happened way too fast to do anything

And, frankly, I thought they were assholes and they didn't intimidate me, though, yes, they did harass. I've dealt with things like that all my life, so I just dealt with it by acknowledging how worthless they were.

To me, it's a funny story. They were assholes. I wasn't harmed by them being assholes. I can't rely on someone else to constantly make my world safe for me so I have developed ways to handle things on my own. Because, honestly, something like that is soooooooooooooooo minor compared to all the major shit I have had to deal with in life.

Maybe that's where my perspective comes from.

BUt that was not my usual sort of interaction where I am, but frat boys, most especially, are particularly obnoxious around here.

One time one of them just stood in the middle of a street talking to friends and held up traffic and flipped people the bird when someone (finally) honked. I have a low opinion of frat boys - obviously - who are also overwhelmingly republican.

[tblue37]

15. The point would not necessarily to keep you safe if you didn't feel threatened, but

to make them understand that they can't do that to people they perceive as vulnerable. The next person they target might feel very scared indeed and thus end up feeling too vulnerable to enjoy her (or his) right to move freely and occupy public space.

I am a big believer in teaching bullies such lessons before they do physical or psychological harm to someone who really is vulnerable.

[RainDog]

16. It would've been impossible

because I didn't have a pencil and paper right there... the whole thing, once I realized they were trying to talk political trash to me, happened in.. seconds.

If it were a constant situation, of course I would address it, but it's not.

I've also had gnomic little miltia men tell me they were meeting with their buds but they had all agreed they wouldn't turn their guns on their fellow citizens. I told him I was very glad to know that.

I didn't have his name, either, and that wasn't on the street... but I didn't warn about him, either. I assume the people who need to know about him already do.

[tblue37]

18. Oh, I understand that you didn't have time or opportunity to hand the incident

to LEOs. I was mainly responding to the nasty little creep's self-assured claim that he was untouchable because he "didn't do anything." They really do think they have a right to bully and badger other people for their own amusement. I bet it would never occur to them that they don't have, literally, a legal right to do that.

[RainDog]

19. they may have thought they were badgering

I thought they were demonstrating they did not deserve my attention. I wasn't angry when it happened. I was laughing because they were obviously freaked when I talked about getting their license numbers, even tho I knew I wasn't going to do it.

[2naSalit]

11. An interesting point about being poor

in ID. If you "belong" they have their own welfare system for those folks, everyone else is not welcome. If you do "belong" then you get taken care of so long as you do as you are told by the "elders". Remember those stories about Mittens' interference with those women's reproductive rights? It's like that. You are told when to go on missions, you are told when to get married, you are told when to start having kids etc.. And they'll take care of you as long as you do as you are told. They act as though they have the freedom to have their own little fiefdoms within our borders and those who disagree can take a hike, and they'll help you choose to go away by not hiring you etc. I could go on but I don't want to offend the beliebers.

[Nevernose]

26. The welfare thing isn't universally true

Some close friends of mine -- a man, a woman, and their two out-of-wedlock children -- moved to Provo for work in the late 1990s. Being mutually abusive alcoholics who chain smoked, lived in sin, and we're not Mormons did not prove the slightest hindrance to the LDS church helping them. They got a rent-assisted apartment, clothes, food, and employment.

The rest of your post is spot on.

[2naSalit]

27. anomalies

do happen, and that was in the greater SLC area. They are actually a little more progressive than SE ID. I think that's because it's a regional hub and so there are many non-LDS in the valley. the concentration is a bit diluted there. Perhaps they saw them as potential converts to be hit on in the future... maybe.

[hatrack]

13. Uh, yeah, duh . . . .

[libodem]

21. No Doubt

I'd like to move. I can't stand that they want guns on our college campuses. The idiot Governor is all for it. It may pass this session. Gawd.

[ErikJ]

23. I doubt UofI will. Moscow is pretty liberal arent they?

[jmowreader]

28. The bill requires schools allow guns

The evil federal government may be our salvation: Idaho State University does nuclear research, and there's a zero tolerance policy for guns in nuclear labs - the bill says guns must be allowed in classrooms, and the NRC has promised to pull ISU's license over this.

[PowerToThePeople]

22. Also it is a "right to work" state, where you make shit unless you are an exec or owner. n/t