(Tom Magliery / Flickr)

Days before this year’s Boise Pride Festival was set to kick off, the new chair of Idaho's Republican Party, Dorothy Moon, issued a news release stating that two Pride events, Drag Kids and Drag Story Time, were encouraging the sexualization of children. And she called on sponsors to withdraw their support.

The tactic worked. After people from all over the country started contacting these organizations, many withdrew including Zion's Bank, Idaho Power, Idaho Central Credit Union and Capital Educators Credit Union. Others like Blue Cross of Idaho remained.

Idaho Matters breaks down how this narrative of grooming and sexualization of children has taken center stage in politics. We spoke with Pride organizers about what Pride Festival and drag really are and we look at these moral panics; what are they and how do they relate to what led up to last weekend’s Pride events?

Boise-based reporter Heath Druzin, the creator of the Extremely American podcast, joins Idaho Matters along with Joseph Kibbe, vice president of this year's Boise Pride Festival and Boise State University professor Jen Schneider.