Methodist delegates pull 2027 conference out of Idaho over safety concerns for trans and nonbinary attendees

Members of the United Methodist Church’s Oregon-Idaho Conference have voted to move their 2027 annual meeting out of Idaho after concerns were raised about the safety of transgender and nonbinary participants.

The conference met at the Cathedral of the Rockies in Boise from June 18 to 20 and had originally planned to return to the same church in 2027. Instead, delegates voted 52-48 to change venues.

The vote came after a nonbinary reverend told the conference on its third day that they had to take their wife to an emergency room and had experienced behavior that left them feeling unsafe.

“I experienced some microaggressions that made me feel very anxious and unsafe,” they said, according to Boise State Public Radio. “I’m asking you to consider relocating our next annual conference to a location where more of our community will feel safe and be present and participate.”

Boise State Public Radio said it did not name the reverend because they had already been targeted by “hateful rhetoric.”

Rev. Heather Riggs of the Montavilla United Methodist Church in Portland, Oregon, introduced the motion to hold the 2027 conference outside Idaho in “a location that is safe for all.” She said, “Harm has already been done at this year’s conference.”

Bishop Cedric Bridgeforth, who leads the Greater Northwest United Methodist region, described the debate as a broader discussion of values and the climate facing LGBTQ people in Idaho.

“So, there’s a struggle of values on whether to stay or to retreat,” he told Boise State Public Radio.

In a blog post in June, Bridgeforth wrote that the close vote “reflects the complexity, pain, conviction, and concern present among us.” He said members raised concerns about safety, racism, anti-trans rhetoric and action, and the experiences of “people of color, immigrants, queer and trans siblings, and others who are targeted by hate, laws, policies, and public speech.” He also said “A specific anti-trans incident that occurred in Boise during this annual conference was also reported.”

Bridgeforth added that members also argued for staying in Idaho to support local people in the denomination. “We cannot allow a decision about where to hold an annual conference session to become a retreat from our witness in Idaho or a rejection of the people who are faithfully serving here,” he wrote.

Rev. Jenny Hirst of Collister United Methodist Church in Boise voted against the resolution and told the Idaho Statesman that many people in the state are working to change hostile policies.

“There are many people who are working tirelessly to change and challenge those policies, and to build a different future for all people here,” she said.

Hirst said she worried the decision would be interpreted as abandoning transgender and nonbinary people in Idaho. “Idaho needs the witness and solidarity of the wider church and denomination now more than ever,” she said. “Loving Idaho means telling the truth about what is happening, while continuing to show up and work for something better.”

She also said the resolution came late in the conference, when many attendees were exhausted and others had already left.

The Oregon-Idaho Conference represents 145 Methodist churches across the two states. Its annual meeting typically covers budgets, compensation and practical projects.

The decision comes amid a broader push in Idaho against transgender people. Trans independent journalist Erin Reed has labeled the state a “Do Not Travel” state in her Anti-Trans National Legal Risk Assessment Map, which already lists Florida, Texas and Kansas as such.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, signed a bill this year that criminalizes trans people’s use of restrooms consistent with their gender, even in private businesses, and could carry a prison sentence. The governor has signed 15 anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law in the past several years.