Over
20 Events
Delta Foundation Expands Pride from a day to a week! June 16-22
Americal Idol star set to Perform at Pride in the Street
X
downtown living
e posed
P I T T S B U R G H
Expose Yourself.
dynamicduo Brett James, Salon Owner & Marty Vecellio, Event Planner – Lincoln at North Shore
Styling. Serving. Designing. It’s all in a day’s work for Brett of the Brett James Salon and Marty of the Common Plea. When the sun sets, our fearless friends hit the streets to indulge in their favorite Downtown Pittsburgh destinations dining, shopping, theater, sports and nightlife are all in their backyard. After calling Downtown home for more than 7 years, this creative couple is spreading the word – Downtown living is for everyone.
Share your Downtown living experience or learn how you can call Downtown home at www.downtownpittsburgh.com/exposed
Metamorphosis. Pittsburgh is spreading its wings. Mainstream is out. Change is in. Bright colors and bold accents. A joie de vivre. Unique twists and turns, with plenty to dazzle fun seekers. Chic restaurants, an exciting nightlife, unique museums, sensational outdoor activities and historic landmarks. VoilĂ !
Imagine!
1-877-LOVE PGH
Frommer’s Choice for One of the Top Travel Destinations in the World.
<HL8C@KP @J I<=I<J?@E> © 2008 COORS BREWING COMPANY, GOLDEN, CO OR SHENANDOAH VALLEY, VA * BEER
letters “America’s Most Livable City”
From Luke Ravenstahl Mayor City of Pittsburgh
the
O ff i c e
of
C ounty of A llegheny C ounty E xecutive , D an O norato
M ay o r L u k e R av e n s ta h l
Dear Friends: On behalf of the residents of the City of Pittsburgh, I am honored to welcome you to Pittsburgh Pride Week 2008 here in “America’s Most Livable City” from June 16 - 22. Presented by the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh, this seven-day celebration for and about the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community, boasts a spectacular line-up of events. Whether you make a “Splash” at the pool party, imbibe on the Bar Crawl, kick up your heels at Pride in the Street, see some quality entertainment at PrideFest, or march in our City’s biggest Pride parade ever, there is something for everyone during Pride Week. Because this year marks a historic landscape for Pittsburgh on Liberty Avenue and with the diversity of this City and the community we share, we are taking the celebration to the streets as one; Live Love Liberty. As we commemorate our 250th year as a city, Pittsburgh is at a particularly exciting point in its history. We have exceptional universities and medical facilities, a diverse economy, cutting edge research and technology facilities and Downtown revitalization projects in the works. Our Neighborhoods First campaign is in full swing, aimed at making our City one of the cleanest and safest in the country.
Dan Onorato Allegheny County County Executive
Dear Friends: Welcome to Allegheny County for Pride Week 2008. Southwestern Pennsylvania is a collage of individuals, ethnicities, cultures and religions, and this makes our region a great place to live, work and play. We are making historic strides to empower our diverse population in Allegheny County. In 2006, I signed a landmark executive order to promote diversity and inclusion on County boards, authorities and commissions over which I have the power to appoint. We have a wealth of talented, energetic people who should be involved in every level of decision making. I believe our County will be best served when our government and its institutions fairly represent the diversity of our residents. Best wishes for a safe and enjoyable time. Sincerely,
Pittsburgh is celebrating its 250th Anniversary with events throughout the region. Now is a perfect time to discover the treasures that surround us each day here in Pittsburgh, as well as the individuals in our communities who make it a special place to live, work and play. I hope you enjoy this year’s Pride Week festivities, and to those of you visiting from out of town – Welcome to Pittsburgh!
Dan Onorato Allegheny County Executive
Sincerely,
Luke Ravenstahl Mayor, City of Pittsburgh Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
THANK YOU Delta Foundation Board of Directors
Gary A. Van Horn, Jr., President Steven R. Herforth, Vice President Peter J. Karlovich, Treasurer Thomas Schneck II, Secretary 6 7 8 12 14 16 18 22 28 30 32 34 36 38 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 55 56 58 60 61 62 64
Letters: Welcome from the Mayor & County Executive Thank You 15 Minutes: Andy Warhol Neighborhoods: Eastside Poetry Gathering 412 411: Gay Pittsburgh Xposed Politics: “I do” But We Can’t. Gals & Dolls: Pride Female Style Queens: Royalty in the Making? Feature: Kimberley Locke Musik: The Cliks Pride Week Events Pride Map PrideMarch Bar Crawl PridePass Pride in the Street PrideFest Soak: Summer River Cruise Youth: Fresh Faces, Fresh Voices Culture: Star Power Made Steel Stage Q: Str8 to the ballgame and out of the Closet Dahntahn: Nice Backyard Splash: Mt. Washington Pool Party Celebrate: Black Gold ‘n Gay Who We Are: Putting Pittsburgh on the National Gaydar USA ‘n Gay: More Colors Than Just Red, White & Blue Memorial Tribute: Randy Forrester Q&A: Aquadisiac is Not Herself These Days The Closet: Real Life Coming Out Stories
magazine designed by Jonathan Fobear
Members Cindy J. Daro Loni M. McCartney Keri Harmicar Joseph A. Senatore Emeritus Board Members Charles W. Honse William R. Kaelin Donald R. Thinnes Charles Tierney
Marketing & Entertainment Committee Thomas Schneck II, Chair
Creative/Design Group: John Colombo, Jonathan Fobear, Keri Harmicar, Tony Kuhar, David Seman Entertainment Group: Cindy Daro, Kierra Darshell, Chris Eckles, Philip Ezzo, John McMarlin, Richard Parsakian, Brian Truskie, David Watts Public Relations Group: Victoria Bradley, Jessica Levine, Loni McCartney, James Richards, Bryson Thornton, Tom West
PrideFest & PrideMarch Committee
Jeff Freedman, Chair GLENDA Volunteers, Susan Haugh, Ken Haywood, Kelly Kinsey, Lee Marcuzzi, Joey Murphy, Jezebele Opulence, Sarah Rosso, Autumn Secrest, Lyndsey Sickler, Scott Stegman, Shelly Strauss Rollison, Richard Thomas, Mark Thompson, Keith Vario
Decorating Committee
proud member of Opinions and claims made by advertisers are those of the advertisers ONLY. PrideMag accepts no liability for claims made by advertisers. All rights reserved. © Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
Steven R. Herforth, Diane Richie, Bill Volbrecht Vincent Lighting Systems, Lighting Design J4 Event Systems, Sound Design Mountain Productions, Staging/Rigging
Operations Committee
Gary A. Van Horn Jr., Chair Samuel Badger, Trevor Benyack, Paul Block, James Foster, Steven Herforth, Gilbert Jackson, Nancy Johnson, Jimmy McDonald, Diane Mezza, Kim Schlanger, Bill Volbrecht, Robert Yager
Partner Events
Loni McCartney, Chair Partner Organizations 5801, 941 Saloon, Blue Moon, Borders Eastside, Burgh Bears, Donny’s & Weezie’s Pub & Club II, East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Family Services of Western Pennsylvania, Flying Colors Cycling Group, G2H2 Pittsburgh, Gay & Lesbian Community Center, Images, Mark Lucas, Patrick Arena Music, Pegasus, Persad Center, PFlag, Pittsburgh 250 / Allegheny Conference, Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, Pittsburgh Eagle, Pittsburgh International Lesbian & Gay Film Society, Pittsburgh Pride Bowling League, PotLuck Productions, P-Town, Real Luck Café, Spin, Station Square, There Video Lounge, Three Rivers Arts Festival, Tilden, TREAT, Visit Pittsburgh, Your Inner Vagabound Coffee Shop SPECIAL THANKS Allegheny County Council, Richard Allison, Gary Altavilla, Howard Andrew, Duane T. Ashley, ASP Station, Kristen Baginski, Brandon Baker, Bravo Designs, Nadine Brnilovich, Patty Burk, Charles L. Caputo Esq., Louis F. Caputo Esq., Dan Catanzaro, Cerini Harley-Davidson, Guy Costa, Eric Davis Esq., Rodney Decchis, Corey Delee, Nick DiMartino, Mike Edwards, Kevin Evanto, State Senator Jim Ferlo, Michael Ferraro, Bill Flanagan, Sean Fox, State Representative Dan Frankel, Ofc. Christie Gasiorowski, Denise Gaynor, Ofc. Linda Gigliotti, Michael Griener, Jeff Goldammer, The Highland Inn, Andy Henderson, Jeffrey Hurant, Sue Kerr, Kevin Kinross, Eric Kukura, Tinsy Lipchak, Eddie Lowy, Renee Malta, Frank Malta, Michael Marsico, Weezie Michaels, Tony Molnar-Strejcek, Ralph Morrow, Michael Muskey, Scott Noxon, County Executive Dan Onorato, Eve Picker, Pittsburgh City Council, Hollie Plevyak, Chris Potter, Nancy Previch, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Governor Edward G. Rendell, Ron Romano, Chuck Rompala, Gigi Saladna, Jim Sampson, Selena Schmidt, Rodney Schwartz, Sgt. Larry Scirotto, Darrin Smith, Steel City Media, Robert Tager, Chris Taylor, Fritz Toomer, Debra Van Horn, Sean Van Sant, Sunny Varasso, Jeff Wheeler, David White, Thomas Yargo, Yarone Zober, and an anonymous donor
15 minutes
“Making money is art, and working is art and good business is the best art.” —Andy Warhol
ANDY WARHOL: Probably the most famous member of Pittsburgh’s GLBT community was Andy Warhol. Since 2008 marks the city’s 250th birthday (and what would be Andy’s 80th), it seems appropriate to take a moment to reflect on his life and contributions.
peritonitis when Andy was just 13 years old. Fortunately, Julia would live to take pride in her son’s accomplishments, living with him for a while in New York before returning to Pittsburgh where she died in 1972.
Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928, the third child of Andrej and Julia Warhola, two Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants who settled in Pittsburgh. They were a working class family who lived primarily in Oakland and worshipped at St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church. Andrej worked as a construction laborer and Julie sold homemade paper flowers door-to-door.
Andy studied in commercial art at what is now Carnegie-Mellon University and developed more skills while creating window displays for the Joseph Horne Company department store. During the 1950s, after his move to New York, he became known in the advertising world for his whimsical drawings of shoes, which were done in a loose, blotted ink style. They would even be put on public display in one of Warhol’s first gallery shows. RCA Records hired him as a free-lance graphic artist, designing cover albums and related marketing materials. It was during this time when he dropped the “a” from Warhola and simply became Andy Warhol.
But young Andy always dreamed of something more, starting when he was just six and began collecting autographed photos of movie stars like Mickey Rooney and Shirley Temple. This interest in celebrity would eventually become a cornerstone of his art, something his family (especially mother Julia) supported. Sadly, Andrej would never see his son’s success: he died from tuberculosis Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
This exposure to the capitalism of art, would be a key factor in finding Warhol’s artistic vision. As
he wrote in 1975, “What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke that the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows, the bum knows it, and you know it.” That vision started to blossom in the 1960s, when he founded his famous “Factory” to create both original and mass-produced art which would make him both rich and famous. At this studio, Warhol gathered around him an eclectic mixture of creative people, from musicians and crossdressers to major celebrities. It was during this era that he created his famous paintings of actors Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Troy Donahue, among others. And, perhaps his most
Pittsburgh City Council
welcomes you to PRIDE WEEK 2008 Thank you for helping us celebrate the DIVERSITY that makes Pittsburgh vibrant! Congratulations to the Delta Foundation and everyone who makes PRIDE WEEK a success.
Design: Jonathan Fobear
15 minutes
famous works, paintings of ordinary products like Campbell soup cans. But not everyone who came into the Factory’s wonderfully bohemian atmosphere hoped to create art or to schmooze: three times in the 1960s people with guns would come into the Factory to threaten someone or something. Most famously was the incident in 1968 when a wouldbe performer named Valerie Solanas shot Andy Warhol. Warhol was one of a burgeoning group of young artists creating what would be dubbed “pop art,” after a famous 1962 symposium at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. An equally famous exhibit occurred at Paul Bianchini’s New York gallery in 1964. “The American Supermarket,” recreated a typical grocery store through paintings of everything from sales posters to produce. At the Factory, Warhol dabbled in almost anything film and the burgeoning new technology called video tape. He wrote books and co-founded the magazine Interview. He became a popular member of New York’s nightlife from the 1960s through the 1980s, regularly attending such famous clubs as Studio 54.
Warhol continued to work throughout his life. In 1987, he died from a heart attack following what should have been routine gall bladder surgery in New York. His death made world-wide news and an estimated 2,000 people attended his funeral in Pittsburgh. Only seven years after his death, in 1994, the Andy Warhol Museum opened in Pittsburgh. It is the largest museum in the world dedicated to a single artist. It holds more than 12,000 works created by Warhol in media as varied as paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures, installation pieces, short films and videos. Its mission is to be “a vital forum in which diverse audiences of artists, scholars and the general public are galvanized through creative interactions with the art and life of Andy Warhol” and other contemporary artists. To learn more about the museum, visit www.warhol.org. —James A. Richards manages the postgazette.com events calendar under MyManagerie, which he is also the founder.
Photos Courtesty: John Colombo
He seldom spoke about his sexuality, but it was never really hidden. Warhol often created erotic drawings or even photos of nude men and made short films with homoerotic context like “Lonesome Cowboys”.
Critics often called Warhol’s work too commercial, even a few calling it a “hoax”. But Warhol proudly defended his revolutionary blend of art with the commercial, saying “making money is art, and working is art and good business is the best art.”
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
10
Come out in the sun. Experience the finest in resort-style desert living for gays and lesbians.
Imagine a resort community where your neighbors are just like you. To learn more visit MarigoldCreek.com or call 888.688.6818.
E D I S T S EA neighborhoods
G N I R E H T A G POETRY
Anything goes during Pride Week....no stone will be left unturned, there will not be anything unheard or unsaid....there will be music, and food and oh...wait a moment....did someone say POETRY? The Eastside Poetry Gathering washed the audience in the sea of Babylon back in April for National Poetry Month. You can hear about it here, you can see it on the websites, but you can’t experience spoken word without being in the midst. Poets Lewis Colyar and Jessica Levine, Vincent Zepp, Lioness and Germaine Carter aka Kassa Lewis put the evening’s entertaintenment together. This June, you will see these spoken word and literary kings and queens first hand. Jes offered the sacrificial poem to the stage with the Poet’s Ladder that night then released the microphone to the poets. But first the Zepp pulled a 180 and turned the microphone to Amsterdam. Lewis Colyar read from Langston Hughes, and featured poets from his foundation the Langston Hughes Poetry Society of Pittsburgh, taking things back to 1938. Then Lioness grabbed the mic and with a Slave Narrative she set off the night, for smooth sounds and amazing beats alongside a friend of poetry. Lioness and Bekezela Mguni from the Westinghouse Lighthouse program, featured a young man from the High School. “The young man inspired every person in the audience,” Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
said Jessica Levine the host of the night and Sales Manager for the Borders. The two women from the program, as leaders and partners, agreed to a roundtable discussion with women of the community. “Poetry is a powerful tool of inspiration,” said Jessica Levine, “When Chassity offered a round table discussion to talk about sexuality, with women among women, I was hooked.” All of the beautiful women that came to the stage were magnificent with strong roots and strong dreams. One man before leaving the bookstore for the night, asked, Will there be more? I just stopped in here and stayed for three hours! He said. Before the mic was hot, now the thing was on fire, and stepped to the stage was none other than wordsmith Sarah Fitzgerald. In Memphis, “where should I walk?” asked spoken word queen Vanessa German to a woman walking by her on the street. Just follow the river the woman said. “I walked 1 1/2 mile to the National Civil Rights Museum,” and it looks like nothing moved from the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot on April 4th 1968, she observed while spinning her story to the audience. Vanessa German, closed the show with a powerful piece and left the microphone empty, but the fire still burns. She will be one of the featured entertainers on the stage at PrideFest, on Sunday June 22nd.
German looks up to room 304 and tells the story of reliving dreams and following the path of Justice. “You cannot kill justice...hope....love,” and she asked one question to the audience. If you could go anywhere and cry without fear or shame, where would you go? She was in Memphis for the 40th anniversary of MLK’s death, she spent a day and a half there and traveled Boston. This year at PrideFest we will get to see her again, she will be featuring her show, “Testify” on the 20th and 21st at Harris Theatre, with a special appearance on the stage at PrideFest! Don’t miss out on the other amazing works of poetry and sound happening all week during Pride. The Queer Cafe will also be a hot ticket spot for the young and old on the streets of Liberty during PrideFest, Sunday, June 22nd For everything in between you simply have to walk down Liberty Avenue either on the Saturday, or Sunday of Pride Week, but don’t forget the corners of the city and the three rivers because you can follow the dreams of poets around the city all week. —Jessica Levine is a freelance journalist and poetician. She is also the Sales manager and community events coordinator for Borders Eastside, Pittsburgh.
12
412 411 Gay Pittsburgh Think gay…. Cutting edge… Think Pittsburgh? You should. Pittsburgh has given America and the world some of the hottest trends, music, and culture. Surprised? We’re not. Pittsburgh’s Hot. We’re home to one of the largest Cultural Districts in America. (www. pgharts.org) Many of the shows that come to town are world and North American premieres.
D E S O XP
Our LGBT film festival is the fifth longest-running in the world.
I mean, come on, we gave the world Flash Dance.
We’re home to the largest museum dedicated entirely to an art icon. Just check out the Andy Warhol Museum on our North Shore. We even have a bridge named after him.
Pittsburgh has also been on the forefront of GLBT rights, passing one of the first gay and lesbian human rights ordinances in the country, and has an openly gay city council member.
Christina Aguilera is from here. Madonna vacationed here during her younger years.
Pittsburgh has Persad, the second oldest GLBT counseling centers in the U.S.
Jody Foster attended one of the two universities known for turning out some of the hottest stars, Carnegie Mellon and Point Park Universities.
Hot to travel? Check us Out. The Navigaytour Travel Guide has featured Pittsburgh, along with San Diego and Chicago in it’s debut
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
edition. Plus, the Spring 2008 edition of OutTravel has called Pittsburgh a city that’s quickly becoming a gay haven. Like to play hard? Check out our gay leagues, from kayaking to softball, running, cycling, volleyball or even bowling. New York, Chicago, and LA may have the lights, but Pittsburgh has the action. Enjoy! —Thomas West is a 5pm News Producer for WTAE TV-4.
14
REAL ESTATE SERVICES
Helping the Community Invest in Their City
and Themselves. SHADYSIDE 5857 Ellsworth Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15232 412-363-4000
Coldwell Banker is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company, Equal Housing Opportunity, Owned & Operated by NRT LLC.
DOWNTOWN Gateway Towers Office 320 Fort Duquesne Blvd. Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412-765-2224
politics
“I do.”
“The legislation before us today is not about protecting or enhancing a cherished principle, but a bill that reflects pandering and political posturing on a hot button, emotionally-charged issue,” Pittsburgh City Councilman Bruce Kraus said before the congressional hearing.
Meanwhile men and women in droves surrounded the building, demanding their voices be heard. Those in support of presidential candidates notwithstanding, the amendment would serve to reaffirm an outdated principle. On an Internet poll started the next day-at the Post-Gazette- readers were asked if they agreed with the amendment, 68% said no, out of almost 5,000 people. The issue is one that too many people are sick of fighting, while others hold to the fight with hands clasped, still others live their lives freely with rings
But, We Can’t.
or symbols and the name husband to husband or wife to wife. “Our society, a truly unique and great American experience...to sexual minorities who ask that their conduct be treated equitably in a democratic society. We are truly great and envied because of our tolerance and because of our acceptance,” Ferlo said. Gay, straight, bisexual or transgender, male or female or Christian, Jew, Muslim; this is the United States. Standing side by side with protestors nearby; gays, friends and allies waited on the steps of the building to show their support, April 10th 2008 at 1:00pm. “So what is wrong with making a statement about marriage in the constitution? For one thing, it would be the wrong statement, a note of bigotry in a document that is supposed to serve high ideals.
celebrate with pride at 5801
It is born of a mind-set that singles out gays to blame for society’s moral decline, even as the Eliot Spitzers of the world regularly refute that notion.” quoted from Jim Ferlo, who is in the State Senate 38th district, and served as a Pittsburgh councilman for 14 years. This very long debate is not nearly over, as state by state, we continue to fight for this very basic human right. Senate Bill 1250 is now tabled indefinitely, thanks to mass opposition to the bill from the GLBT community and their allies. Join Anthony Infanti, Associate professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh as he discusses his book, Everyday Law for Gays and Lesbians, at Borders East Liberty on Tuesday, June 17th at 6:00pm. Jessica Levine is a freelance journalist and poetician. She is also the Sales manager and community events coordinator for Borders Eastside, Pittsburgh.
P R I D E F U N D R A I S E R Each Friday Happy
Hour in June — Food, Prizes & More!
Pride Week — $1.75 16oz Coors Light Draft Friday, June 20th — Pride Fest Bar Crawl Sunday, June 22nd — After-Pride Deck Party HAPPY HOUR Daily 6 :00 – 8 :00pm
5 01
8
infinite possibilities
on e l l s w o r t h
VIDEO LOUNGE AND CAFÉ
O P E N D A I LY A T 4 : 0 0
PM
HAPPY HOUR FROM 6:00 – 8:00
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
PM
PHONE:
412.661.5600
WEB SITE:
W W W. 5 8 0 1 . U S
5801 ELLSWORTH AVENUE
16
Proudly Supports Pittsburgh Pride Week 2008
C o r p o r at e T r a n s a c t i o n s L i t i g at i o n
and
and
Securities
Dispute Resolution
Commercial Lending, Creditorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rights, Workout and Bankruptcy
I n t e ll e c t u a l P r o p e rt y T a x , E s tat e
and
and
Technology
Financial Planning
Employment Practices R e a l E s tat e
and
Construction
11 S tanwix S treet | 18 th F loor | P ittsburgh , P ennsylvania 15222 | P hone 412.918.1100 | F ax 412.918.1199 |
www . metzlewis . com
gals & dolls
PRIDE
“I’ve seen a lot more women out there over the last year since Pride in the Street 2007 than my entire gay life,” said Loni McCartney, a board member on the Delta Foundation. More opportunities exist today to see Lesbian culture around us, she said. Lesbian, Bisexual, and Sexual Priestesses
For Pride 2008, if you are a woman in this city you can see, touch, feel and be alive! Show your true colors. There are a lot of things the city has to offer. Read a book in a park alongside a woman of your choosing; Laugh on the bus alongside a woman 30 years older than yourself; Shake hands with someone you are dying to know; Then walk together along the streets of Liberty Avenue! Do this for your sisters out there in the world holding down forts, raising children, or proudly waving flags elsewhere in the universe. Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
Queer Greek
Fairies Dykes
The history of woman is older than the history of man. Woman comes from the earth, from the air, from fire and water. As a woman, we are without beginning or end and her always.
So what if one doctor says Men are From Mars and Women are from Venus the whole world of metaphors won’t crash around the misunderstanding. Men may be from Mars, and women may be from Venus, but there are other planets out there in the Universe and we will all be celebrating during June. The words that people use to define themselves are prerogatives, so shake rattle and roll and don’t forget to be yourself. Lady Luck, Faith and Justice made sure there is a venue, show or event for everyone; whether you are in the mood for a panty party, a film festival, church or parade. You’ll have a great time between during Pride Week June 16th - 22nd.
The history of Pride starts with men or women; when injustice and fear forces a person to step backward. Their hearts will rebel. Something pure like steel races forward. The history of steel is old and pure and natural and serves as a womb for the natives of Pittsburgh.
Goddesses Warriors These are the words that define a woman who is a woman. Whether a lioness who runs the jungle and the lions of her pack; a beautiful blonde with the force of steel in her every move yet the graceful sway of karate; or bright eyed singer with freckles and green clothing; we are called woman for a reason.
Bisexual, lesbian or straight women who love women will hear the call of the Pride celebrations during 2008 in Pittsburgh. There are women of every color, status and race. There are beautiful, ugly and average women.
18
E D I R P G RATIN
S Y A D 5 36 A YEAR! CELEB
Mission Statement
GLCC SERVICES Community Announcements Publicize your event by inserting an advertisement into our Newsletter, which reaches thousands of people. You may also wish to add your event to our online Events Calendar. Our E-mail list subscribers receive bi-weekly announcements based on our Events Calendar. Events The glcc helps sponsor several events, the most popular are OUTrageous Bingo, GayDays, Out In The Garden, and Celebrate The Night. Visit our Events Calendar to see what is happening this month!
Design: Jonathan Fobear
The Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh (glcc) provides the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) individuals, their families and supporters in Western Pennsylvania with resources and opportunities to promote visibility, understanding and equality within the LGBT communities and the community-at-large. The glcc will work toward these goals through education, social support, networking and advocacy. A volunteer Board of Directors oversees the operation of the glcc. The Board is led by an Executive Committee comprised of the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary and Director of Development. There are also coordinators of the various programs of the Center. In some cases, members of the Board hold these positions.
Library Borrow from over 3,000 books on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) authors or topics. You can view a partial listing of our books on the web. Meeting Spaces The GLCC meeting rooms are available at the economical price of only $1.00 per person and can seat from up to 10 people in the more informal room to 25 people in the largest room. To help newly forming groups get off the ground, the first two meetings are free. For larger functions, the whole facility can also be rented.
Hours of Operation: Tuesday-Thursday 6:00pm—9:00pm Saturday 12:00pm—9:00pm Sunday 12:00pm—6:00pm 5800 Forward Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA (Squirrel Hill) 412.422.0114
Newsletter The glcc Newsletter is free and mailed out every 2 months, folded and dot sealed with a discreet cover. It contains GLBT-related articles, community news to keep you up on what is happening in the community. PhoneLine (412) 422-0114 Call for information, referral, and support. We have answered the call for more than 20 years - now speaking with more than 225 callers monthly. Pride Direct Pride Direct, formerly the Pittsburgh Pink Pages, is a comprehensive directory of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered owned or operated and glbt friendly organizations, businesses and services in the tri-state area. Friday Youth Night Meet other young people, read, surf the web, watch videos, listen to music, or just hang out! For ages 14-18. See our Youth Pages on the web for more information. Website www.glccpgh.org Website Our Web Master has created a fountain of information and resources to keep you connected and informed with current and future events on an ongoing basis. www.GLCCPGH.org
Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh
Religious, political and philosophical of heart. And there always will be as there always were. There is one woman from this city who joined the army while young, raised two strong young men and led her family while making beautiful artwork in jewelry, she is black, red and white all over and within herself. She dances at Native American festivities and calls herself prideful for a reason. Our world, as women, relies on love, heartache, sacrifice. Our bodies are our sacred ground and whether Greek, Irish, Jewish or anything in between: we are called women for a reason. Another woman of the Pittsburgh community fights for her young sisters in the poetry scene and loves her woman, she also takes the opportunity to provide direction for the young strong black men around her. Still another beautiful heart works within the gay and lesbian community and stays smart enough to rest and rejuvenate herself with a beautiful woman by her side. Some women we never get to meet. They go on to become doctors, lawyers or volunteers and business entrepreneurs. Other women fight from the ground floor in stock markets, college
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
fairgrounds, or armies. There are also women of this city that motivate and speak to their children or their neighborhoods. Others travel to far lands to speak in other languages with strangers; just to offer a helping hand. There are at least two women in this city that fearlessly travel their own path, unafraid, and learn new things to follow their dreams. Some women roar, others run, still others ride horses and drive fast cars and fly airplanes. Still others pray to the earth for nurture, healing and respect. There are women in every corner, on every wall and on the pages of every family photo album. Hear us roar, speak, or whisper when you walk through the streets of Pittsburgh during Pride Week. Listen for the sounds of muses, musicians and revelers. Whether bohemian, gypsy, celtic - we are free spirits. Whether 18 years old or 80, we are here for our own reasons.
front of thousands of onlookers. And as you travel from the outreaches of the city and state to get here, as you are admiring the landscape, the hills or the gardens, remember the women that contributed to those well laid plans. Cross the simple, continuous or cantilever spans over the decks, ponies and trusses and under the arches of your favorite bridges. Admire the city in a neighborhood of your choosing, and remember Denise Scott Brown an important woman in the field of urban design. Breathe in the air of the lady Pittsburgh, the aroma of young cooks and female chefs, and the scents of her perfume that will surround the celebration. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Jessica Levine is a freelance journalist and poetician. She is also the Sales manager and community events coordinator for Borders Eastside, Pittsburgh.
Watch a majestic woman in black heels ride a Harley during the parade. See a beautiful poet speak of justice and hope and truth. Listen to the sounds of a woman proclaiming her warrior spirit in
20
SUBSCRIBE NOW! 2008-2009 SEASON
uary 1, 2009 January 7-Febr enter Benedum C
Season tickets as low as $126!
starring TOPOL
December 2-7, 2008 Benedum Center
February 17-22, 2009 Benedum Center
BACK BY ‘POPULAR’ DEMAND
March 10-15, 2009 Benedum Center
April 7-12, 2009 Benedum Center
May 26-31, 2009 Heinz Hall
September 3 - October 5, 2008 Benedum Center
Call 412-456-1390 or 800-828-9200 ONLINE: PGHARTS.ORG • GROUPS: 412-471-6930 PNC Broadway Across America-Pittsburgh is a presentation of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Symphony and Broadway Across America
?
Royalty in the
queens
Making To be successful, you have to learn the art of transformation.
When Kierra Darshell walks out from his daily job as a computer analyst to cook dinner or play cards with friends, he is a boy. “I love being a boy. I don’t pluck my eyebrows. My ears aren’t pierced.” But on several nights a month, he is a female impersonator with more than 18 years in the business. This is one man that knows how to be a woman.
Kierra Darshell
Dressed in pink with designer pumps, jewels, and a voice that soars over the crowd, Kierra the drag queen is more glamorous than most women. “Anyone can just throw on a pair of jeans,” she says. “Being a queen requires finding the music, learning your song, finding an outfit, doing your hair, getting make-up and accessories, finding the right shoes and the right jewelry. Then taking the stage.” Kierra walks onto the stage in a long pink tightly fitted low-cut piece with wavy black hair. “I think it’s amazing that a man can transform into glitz and glamour: the epitome of a female.” she says. “I made a conscious decision not to alter my body because I felt it took away from the illusion I was trying to create.” The crowd at Pegasus stands all around the stage, some are grasping the cage walls while others are hanging on her every word. The drag queen scene is picking up steam here in Pittsburgh. While there are few men in the city who have been in the biz for as long as Kierra, there are more than a few young people just getting
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
started. Kierra works with drag queens from around Pittsburgh and many from around the country. She is the beauty and the brains behind the Tri-State All-Star Pageant for drag kings and queens. The show hosts 300 people at the Holiday Inn Ballroom. “I’ve been blessed with so many milestones.” Her pageant started as a small affair at the Radisson Hotel in Pittsburgh 15 years ago, then moved into a half-ballroom at the Holiday Inn. Now the entire ballroom sells out every year to queens & kings around the country and the men and women that love to see them.
Pegasus is a bar downtown that is open to 18 and older. Kierra does a show here on the second Friday of every month for over eight years, as well as one the second Saturday of every month at the Eagle on the North Side, for over five years. She smiles “My motto is: let’s work together to keep drag alive.” She looks around her, and everywhere are gay men and women, straight fans and other performers. She has worked with so many different people over the years and still believes in the fundamentals of entertainment. She still gets nervous before getting on stage, and says everyone can have a bad night. It’s an artform like going to a gallery or a Broadway show, people expect to be entertained. Kierra wants to be able to put a smile on their face. “Being in drag you have to go beyond what a normal woman would do,” wearing those pumps that make most women’s mouths drop open; or wearing that daring dress in pink and eyelashes with glitter. Not even many celebrities are as flashy or glitzy as this drag queen. The few icons that do such as Diana Ross, Janet Jackson, Bette Midler or Patti LaBelle 22
?
1 2 2 6 H e r r o n Ave P i tt s b u r g h , PA 15219 ( 4 1 2 ) 6 8 2 - 9 869
Enjoy the best of
both worlds
r e h t Lea ntral Ce
Downstairs is
are the icons that are Kierra’s role models.
Photos Courtesty: John Colombo
People tend to have many misconceptions about the life of a drag queen and what they are about. Like any stage it only takes a push to get the curtain open and look behind the scenes. Drag queens are gay men who impersonate women. “It’s a show business,” says Kierra, “Like any other show business, the girls have to learn how to do what needs to be done.” “My shows have a purpose” says Kierra. She uses her character to spread messages of the importance of loving yourself, believing in yourself, one show was about Walking Out on Faith, about AIDS, another about coming out. Kierra won Miss Pittsburgh in 1991 and has been organizing shows at places like Pegasus ever since. But it was a friend 18 years ago that invited her to attend an AIDS benefit as a performer at a club called Travelers that got this girl started. She got stage struck, and a star was born.
Mahogany
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
As a little boy Kierra grew up with three sisters and they were all close, so she was always in tune with her feminine side. Playing dress up with them didn’t hurt either. Now it only takes this fabulous
creature a half an hour to transform before a show. “I know my face and what works.” she says. “At the end of the day my character and myself are the same.” She walks off the stage after the show and disappears behind the stage door... Enter Mahogany
...and another star—Mahogany—walks into the bar ready for the crowd to hear her voice and for the lights to shine on her. “I’m transgender” and professionally she’s done drag for 11 years. Mahogany is someone everybody wants to be seen with. She is 5’11” long legs, long black hair and dark creamy skin. “I was very young and 17” she recollects, “I wanted very badly to do a show, any show.” Her eyes gloss over as she thinks back...”My first friend, Audara Belle, said you can do a show with me,” so Mahogany went to buy clothes on a “ghetto Negley” street in the city. When she got there, Audara’s “drag mama” told Mahogany she couldn’t be in the show. Mahogany recounts the words of the woman telling her to get out of the lime light. So, “it was not my first show, but my first debut as Mahogany.”
24
Photos Courtesty: JoJohn Columbo
An Easter Tale
I spit out.” It all started with a drink from the cross and the dress. Picture black tule on her ass 40 yards in purple and a tight fitted tulip skirt, you know like a mini skirt that snakes down the legs but stops short of the knees. A drink from the cross and Marsha Mellow, Eda Bagel, Kierra Darshell as inspirations of his.
Since 10:30pm Sam was getting make-up done by his friends Sharon Needles and Veruca La Pirahna. Not till he walked behind the curtain were accessories and the final pieces draped over him by Jimmy his stage mom. At 7:30pm he showered, started getting ready and forgot something: “I forgot to shave my arm pits!” he admits. So he started showering again and got the basics ready.
This year he is running for Miss Pegasus, “I’m not in it to win, but I want people to remember what I did. I was nervous but once the music started I just went with it.” He had to make sure the “boobs were right.” And he looked better as a woman than as a man,” said Cowboy Paul.
The doors open at P-Town. A shadow walks through the crowd of over 200 friends, supporters and fans are waiting to see what’s behind the curtain. No one saw Sam Badger, the gorgeous bartender from P-town on Penn Avenue through the curtains.Once they did a star was hatched straight from heaven.
“Don’t forget, this is a bible carrying Easter Extravaganza with an Easter Bonnet Contest” he smiles. “I’m just a boy in a dress.” This is where the story begins...
Bunny Bixler
Picture this, a young Elizabeth Taylor kneeling at the altar after hanging from a golden cross. Does she take communion? “Yah I did” he laughs, “And then
GLENDA (The Gay & Lesbian Neighborhood Development
Since talking with PrideMag, Sam Badger’s drag alter-ego was named Bunny Bixler and crowned Miss Pegasus on April 24th. —Jessica Levine is a freelance journalist and poetician. She is also the Sales manager and community events coordinator for Borders Eastside, Pittsburgh.
To become a volunteer, simply go to www.glenda.org and sign up to receive our email invitations for volunteer projects. The website also contains an events calendar. For more information on GLENDA, please send and email to info@glenda.org.
Design: Jonathan Fobear
Association) promotes diversity, specifically appreciation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals, through community service while making Southwestern Pennsylvania a better place to live.
So Sam Badger, we all want to know...what’s next? “For everybody to gain more respect in the community. I inched my way in.” he explains.
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
26
O
Pittsburgh’s L/G/B/T newspaper since 1973!
PROUD SPONSOR OF PRIDE PITTSBURGH 2008
PROUD TO BE PITTSBURGH’S L/G/B/T NEWSPAPER SINCE 1973!
Mara
801 Bingham Street, Suite 100, Pittsburgh, PA 15203. 412-381-3350
NOW LOCATED ON THE SOUTH SIDE!
www.outngay.com
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
imberley Locke
feature
28
1. For young people, if they could glean one message from your work and life, what would it be?
People still turn a blind eye to it here in US but the statistics are that of South Africa, which is scary.
I hope it would be overcoming circumstances, no matter what your circumstances are. If you work hard enough you can go as far as you want.
I am affiliated with Camp Heartland, because AIDS affects our children and they are born into it, but now because of research, they are very educated and intelligent about it.
2. What was your 11-day trip to Africa like?
4. What charitable projects are you working on in 2008?
Life-changing. My first charity I ever worked with I was so excited. I was going with a group of people I didn’t know and when I got there after the realization of what was going on [with the widespread HIV epidemic] - I experienced every emotion from sadness to anger to hope. I was so ready to go home. That experience just overwhelmed me. On the last day of our trip we were staying in Durban which is a one hour flight from Johannesburg. Johannesburg is a westernized city, very developed, an hour away, and in Durban people don’t have running water, live in shacks, and have no electricity. We spent three or four days there and went back to a city that looked like Vegas. I remembered getting so angry after being in a place that was so destitute while right next door to it was a flourishing town. It was like a roller coaster and I think everybody should go once.
Camp Heartland. One of my biggest charity events “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” show I am a true gambler at heart because on the show I committed to raise an additional $400,000.
3. Why was HIV awareness one of your charitable projects or so important? When I was like 16 or 17, one of my best friends, she had an Aunt who had contracted the virus, and I remember seeing her before she died. It was a lifechanging experience since this was a small town in Tennessee where people didn’t talk about AIDS because it was a “bad” thing. Seeing somebody going from being a perfectly normal human being to being so unrecognizable. And after I finished American Idol, you get approached by a lot of charities, people still want to act like AIDS is not their problem or doesn’t happen.
On Sept 20th I am going to be hosting my first charity event for Camp Heartland in West Chester County, NY. I have never done anything like this and it is stressful! 5.Do you still keep in touch with Clay Aiken or Ruben Studdard? I keep in touch with Ruben. He and I have always talked about doing something together... hopefully soon. 6. What has been your most memorable moment in the last 4 years? American Idol—unique—but I wasn’t signed by BMG. I got my contract outside of Idol. I remember singing the national anthem for the opening game day for the Dodgers! I remember doing motown when Michael Jackson did the moonwalk. I went to the BET awards when Michael Jackson presented James Brown an award and everyone in the audience was like a 6-year-old kid (and you can hear her smile in that memory).
7. What would you say were your biggest challenges career-wise in the last year? You know I think its just to keep working! You can become so disenchanted in this industry. People are going to say “no” more times to you than “yes.” You gotta dig deep and keep going and it may not be exactly what you want but you’re gonna get there. In this industry you have to be your biggest cheerleader because no one is going to do it for you. 8. What was it like to contribute creatively to the music process, during the production of Based on a True Story? Now I am a singer-song writer. I didn’t know if I was going to be good at writing and not everybody is so creative. It was so much work. I would write eight hours a day three days a week and be mentally drained. I’d be so exhausted, but the accomplishment makes me very proud. 9.Now that you have traveled and seen so much of the world, what would you say is your favorite city or place? I love London. I promoted my first album in Europe for 2 weeks. When I left I was actually sad. I enjoy being there so much, it’s one of my favorite cities. 10.What’s your favorite color? Always been a difficult question for me, my favorite color I have to say is black but that’s not a color, my second choice would be red. —Jessica Levine is a freelance journalist and poetician. She is also the Sales manager and community events coordinator for Borders Eastside, Pittsburgh.
See Kimberley after her Pride in the Street performance on Sunday, June 22nd at the PrideMarch riding on a Harley, by Cerini Harley-Davidson.
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
29
The summer of 2007 marked their first major breakthrough in the United States. They were selected by promoters for Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Tour, with traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada, benefiting the Human Rights Campaign. A very different Cliks began with a debut album in 2004 with Silveira, bassist Ezri Kaysen and drummer Heidi Chan. However, the original lineup separated in 2005 which began a difficult time in the life of singer Lucas Silveira. Born in Toronto as Lilla, Lucas Silveira spent much of his childhood on the small Portuguese island of Pico. He moved back to Toronto’s suburbs when he was ten, thriving on pop and then heavy metal. With paper route funds he bought an electric guitar. Struggling with male inclinations, Silveria entered what he dubs his “uber feminine” phase, donning heels, nylons and skirts in an attempt to fit in.
“I was in a six-and-a-half year relationship that came to a really, really messy end. After the breakup, both of my band members quit. It was hard to take, because I was falling back on the music to take me to a place where I could keep myself going. It was just one thing after another.” “I also started coming to terms with a lot of identity issues, being transgendered and all this stuff. I had a huge breakdown and decided I was either going to get through it or I wasn’t. And look at that: I came out of it with an amazing album and an amazing band. Sometimes you have to go down to get back up again.” The first album in 2004 predated Silveira’s gender transition; he was known at the time as Lilia. Silveira later worked with Morgan Doctor and Jordan B. Wright to record ‘Snakehouse’. Wright left the band shortly after the album was completed, but was replaced by Benton and Martinez. This year at Pride Pittsburgh see the Cliks live in a free concert on the 10TH Street Stage during PrideFest on Sunday, June 22nd at 3pm. —Jessica Levine is a freelance journalist and poetician. She is also the Sales manager and community events coordinator for Borders Eastside, Pittsburgh.
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
SOUTHSIDEWORKS
Canadian rock band The Cliks consists of four “out” artists featuring Lucas Silveira who is a transman on vocals/ guitar, Morgan Doctor on drums who identifies as queer and lesbians Nina Martinez on guitar and Jen Benton on bass. The bands’ major label debut album, ‘Snakehouse’, was released in April 2007 by Warner Music in Canada and Tommy Boy Records in the US. Hits on the new album include ‘Oh Yea’, ‘Eyes in the Back of My Head’ and ‘Complicated.’
ITSINTHEWORKS
musik
www.southsideworks.com
SHOPPING ‘til
YOU DROP
late-night
MOVIES
COOL
MARTINIS
ABC WIRELESS AERIE - OPENING SPRING 2008 AMERICAN EAGLE OUTFITTERS ANN TAYLOR LOFT BCBG MAX AZRIA BENETTON BRIGHT HORIZONS CITIZENS BANK COLE HAAN COLLEEN MAC DESTEFINO SOUTHSIDE ESTHETIC DENTISTRY PITTSBURGH FOREVER 21 GRAND BAHIA TANNING RESORT AND ISLAND SMOOTHIES H&M H&R BLOCK JOSEPH BETH BOOKSELLERS KARMA KAY JEWELERS LS ALTMAN NATIONAL CITY NEO VISION NINE WEST PUMA RECREATIONAL EQUIPMENT INC. ROBERTA WEISSBURG LEATHERS RYNN’S LUGGAGE SHARPER IMAGE SOUTHSIDE WORKS CINEMA STEVE MADDEN SUR LA TABLE URBAN OUTFITTERS WHITE HOUSE BLACK MARKET Z GALLERIE CARIBOU COFFEE CHEESECAKE FACTORY RESTAURANT CLADDAGH IRISH PUB CRAZY MOCHA COFFEE COMPANY HOFBRAUHAUS PITTSBURGH OPENING SPRING 2008 MCCORMICK & SCHMICK’S SEAFOOD RESTAURANT PITA PIT QDOBA MEXICAN GRILL ROSA PIZZA SUBWAY TUSCA GLOBAL TAPAS
Located at the corner of East Carson & 27th Streets 412-481-1880 30
Belmont Belmont Amusement Amusement Company Company
3URYLGLQJ DOO \RXU YHQGLQJ QHHGV LQFOXGLQJ
2QOLQH -XNHER[HV 9LGHR 7ULYLD *DPHV 3RRO 7DEOHV 'DUW %RDUGV 'DUW %RDUGV
3URXGO\ 6HUYLQJ WKH */%7 &RPPXQLW\ DW 6DORRQ ,PDJHV 3 7RZQ 3HJDVXV 7KHUH 9LGHR /RXQJH 7LOGHQ
events Pre-Pride Week June 6 -22 Take Me Out A tragic/comedic performance about the coming out story of a gay baseball player. $10 For tickets and info visit artsfestival.net 412.456.6666 Wed.-Sun. @ 8:00pm 131 7th Street Downtown th
nd
pre-SHOW special!
Saturday June 14th THE CURVE BALL Cocktail reception followed by “Take Me Out” tickets For tickets and info visit artsfestival.net or call 412.456.6666. $35 includes reception and show. 131 7th Street @ 6:00pm Friday June 13 FREE G2H2 Gay Guy Happy Hour’s first anniversary. Location announced at g2h2pittsburgh.com 5:30pm-8:00pm th
Lesbian Happy Hour 5:30pm - 7:30pm Location announced at pittsburghpridespace.com FREE
Saturday, June 14th Funny Grrlz: Laugh Out Loud An evening of music and comedy with Julie Goldman, Dana Goldberg and Lisa Koch. For tickets pittsburghpridespace.com Carnegie Library of Homestead Music Hall @ 7:30pm Homestead Saturday, June 14th MISS GAY PRIDE PITTSBURGH Contest hosted by Kierra Darshell with special guest Ben Lerman. Cover benefits Pittsburgh Pride 21+ For tickets and info visit pitteagle. com 1740 Eckert St @ 11:30pm Pittsburgh Eagle North Side Sunday, June 15th Mr. Pittsburgh Pride Drag King Contest Tickets $5, 21+ Rex Theatre @ 7:00pm Southside
MON, June 16th
WED, June 18th
FRI, June 20th
SAT, June 21st
Some Like It ...Hot Pink! A musical benefit for Pittsburgh PFLAG with jazz singer Patrick Arena, guitarist Mark Lucas and celloist Elliot Anderson. Special guests Tracy Drach, Brenda Jean Searcy and Phat Man Dee. For tickets and info visit pflagpgh.org Hard Rock Café @ 6:30pm Station Square
FREE The Book to Watch Out For Book discussion with Dan Iddings about the book “Take Me Out” Borders Eastside @ 7:00pm 5986 Penn Circle South East Liberty
BAR CRAWL Shuttle Buses circle the town and take you over 10 different participaing local LGBT bars. A FREE drink at each bar! Tickets are $15 in advance. For tickets and info visit PittsburghPrideSpace. com 8:00pm-2:00am
PRIDE IN THE STREET Block party, dancing and concert on Liberty Ave. featuring Kimberley Locke, Frederick Ford, DJ Escape, DJ Tony Ruiz, and hosted by Frank Decaro. 18+ Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the gate. For tickets and info visit PittsburghPrideSpace.com Liberty Ave 7:00pm-1:00am. Downtown
Pride Week Bowling Extravaganza A night of bowling and prizes sponsored by Pittsburgh Pride Bowling League and the GLCC. Tickets are $15 per person RSVP serenelee@aol.com Forward Lanes @ 7:00pm Squirrel Hill
TUES, June 17th Everyday Law for Gays and Lesbians Book Discussion Anthony Infanti leads a discussion of his book “Everyday Law for Gays and Lesbians.” Borders Eastside @ 6:00pm 5986 Penn Circle South East Liberty
FREE Flying Colors CITY RIDE GLBT Cycling Group’s day bicycle ride starts at Phipps Conservatory. RSVP requested 6:30pm. 412.414.3070 For info visit pghbikeguy@verizon.net. Oakland FREE PROUD MARYS Bunny Bixler and Esta Gen present an evening of drag and strippers. 21+ P-Town 9:00pm North Oakland
FREE
LGBTQ Foster Care and Adoption Workshop Foster care and adoption information for the LGBTQ family. Hosted by Family Services of Western PA and Persad Center. Hoi Polloi @ 6:00pm 1100 Gavelston Ave. North Side FREE
Patrick Arena & Mark Lucas For tickets and info visit patrickarenamusic.com Backstage Bar @ 8:00pm Cabaret at Theater Square Cultural District Downtown FREE
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
THURS, June 19
th
SPLASH! The Delta Foundation and Rentboy.com present a pool party and cookout. For tickets and info visit PittsburghPrideSpace.com Herforth & Karlovich Party Palace 6:00pm - 11:00pm. 207 Bailey Ave. Mt. Washington
MARY LOU WALLNER & JACOB REITAN Stars of documentary “For the Bible Tells Me So” share their real-life experiences. East Liberty Presbyterian Church @ 7:00pm 116 S. Highland Ave. 412.441.3800 For info visit catherdralofhope.org East Liberty FREE
Passages of Gay Pride American Shorts Reading Series and Persad Center present poet and writer Mark Doty and other GLBT Readers. For tickets and info visit pittsburghlectures.org New Hazlett Theatre @ 7:30pm North Side
Panty Palooza For info visit www.pantypalooza.org Your Inner Vagabond 4130 Butler St. @ 6:00pm Lawrenceville MISS TEEN PRIDE PAGEANT Hosted by Kierra Darshell. Cover benefits Pittsburgh Pride. 18+ For info visit pittpegasus.com 818 Liberty Ave Pegasus @ 11:00pm Downtown
PRIDE WEEK
Pride in the Street Official After Party Club Membership card required for entry. For membership info visit myspace.com/houseoftilden Tilden, 941 Liberty Ave. (upstairs) 1:00am-3:30am Downtown FREE Flying Colors Trail Ride A 25-30 mile bicycle ride starting at Boston trailhead RSVP requested 412.414.3070 10:00am pghbikeguy@verizon.net McKeesport
8 INCH BETSY 8 Inch Betsy live performance. Cover benefits Pittsburgh Pride. 18+ For info visit pittpegasus.com 818 Liberty Ave Pegasus @ 11:00pm Downtown
SUN, June 22nd FREE Pridemarch See over 50 businesses, organizations, and celebrities show pride by marching our NEW parade route. Begins at corner of Grant St. and Blvd of the Aillies @ noon Downtown FREE Pridefest Three city blocks of festival fun featuring 2 stages featuring Reina, The Cliks, Eddie Sarfaty and many more. Plus, the Queer Cafe, Highmark family activity area, vendor booths, beer garden, and much more. For tickets and info visit PittsburghPrideSpace.com 1:00pm to 6:00pm Liberty Ave 7th-10th Streets Downtown FREE LGBT Film Shorts Pittsburgh Lesbian and Gay Film Society will be screen LGBT film shorts during the festival. Harris Theater, 809 Liberty Ave 1:00pm-5:00pm Downtown
Events are subject to change. Visit PittsburghPrideSpace.com for the most up-to-date information.
32
Blv d
Gra nt S t Cro sst own
ls rty Lib e
gley N Ne
S Ne
S Highland Ave
Pleasant Present 2301 Murray Ave.
376 22
30
St 837
Forw a
rd
376
Beech wood B lvd
885
ve ood A Hazelw
51
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com 19 51
Coll in
Ave
Circ le W
Shady
Bigelow Blvd
Blv d
Pen n
gley
rid ge dB mf iel
Blo o
Ave
St
s Av e
Beechwood Blvd
Tun ne
S 18th St
ge Brid rty Libe
Smit hfie ld B ridg e
Wa Merri mac St ba sh Tu nn el St
Wilk in
Murray Ave
Wo od ruf f
r St Beele
Murray Ave
Ba tes St
e nd B ridg
Big elo w
ll A ve Ma rsh a
WE
Ave
Wabash St Saw Mill Run Blvd
gley
S Ne
ree Rd
Ave
Forbes Ave
St Irvine
Arlington Ave
S
GLCC 5808 Forward Ave.
ge rid lB eta M t Ho
EC ar so n
5th
St
22
E Carson St
St ege Coll
S
5th Ave Forbes Ave
le N
Bro
380
Ave
St
Blvd of the Allies
e rth Av Ellswo
Circ
Circle Penn
ve en A S Aik
es rb Fo
5t <— >S Bo — qu e et Av
Pen n
5801 Video Lounge 5801 Ellsworth Ave.
Ave
2nd
8th
tre Cen
30
South Side Works S1
Blvd Baum
St ville N Ne d n Blv Con Billy
376
837
t hS 18t
Ave
380
St
837
EONS 5850 Ellsworth Ave. Spin 5830 Ellsworth Ave
aig N Cr
ent
t hS
Brett James Salon 905 Liberty Ave.
Bridge
837 ing ton Ave
S 10th St
Gre
t 40
22
gton Ave
19
Robinson St
376
Birmingham Bridge
30
E Warrin
19
Ave
Forbes Ave—> 22
rty
ve hA
<—5th Ave
Arl
51
Cent re
Centre Ave
22
Station Square
n Ave
There Video Lounge 931 Liberty Ave.
Lib e
P*Town 4740 Baum Blvd
Big
579
51
19
380
Club Pittsburgh 1139 Penn Ave.
llies
nS t
lvd wB elo
Big
lvd wB elo
e Av rty iL be 380
eA
Ca Stati rso on n S Sq t Dr PJ M cAr dle E C Rdw ars y o
ve nA
St ick patr Kirk
W
n Pe
Real Luck Cafe 1519 Penn Ave.
Ln
837
<—
380
Ave
of t h
28
ge
py Ex
For
Blvd 376
Ave Liberty
Brewers Hotel 3315 Liberty Ave.
V HO
oln inc
L nn Pe
30
79 1-5
22
Av e
St 9th t 7th S l St
Federa
ille
279
y Libert
30
279
el
rid tB hS 16t
m.
279
837
n Tun itt tP
ley Press
.
lla Isabe
Pegasus 818 Liberty Ave.
19
Cedar
m.
n St
St hio EO
St E Ohio
E Com
W Com
S Comm
Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel 107 6th St.
51
Wo od v
East Liberty Presbyterian Church 116 S. Highland Ave.
Penn Ave
Herro
.
N Comm
n Ave
Garde
h Ave E Nort
Ave
WO hio St
Spring
31s tS tB rid ge
28
n Ave
l St Federa
60
St
e Penn Av
Herro
Rd
Rd
44 th
n
L OV
ton
t nS rso Ca
Nob lest own
e
Donny’s & Weezie’s Pub & Club II/Leather Central 1226 Herron Ave.
Images 965 Liberty Ave.
279
65
WC arso
St Br idg
Your Inner Vagabond Coffehouse & World Lounge 4130 Butler St.
Ave
H 79 1-2
gh Bri
d iver Blv Ohio R
W
W North
Ave Ridge
St ain St ben M Steu
th
Blue Moon on Butler 5115 Butler St But l er
Mc Clu re Av e
Rd
Ave ver Bea
The Warhol 117 Sandusky St Ave Western
19
40
28
den Gar
ton
ing
llia Wi
St
941 Saloon / Tilden 941 Liberty Ave.
The Priory 614 Pressley St.
51
n Ave Stanto
Cattivo 146 44th St.
279
65
Ave
Rd ms
Essen St
19
19
nt
e Stanton Av
Lamar 279
Pittsburgh Eagle 1740 Eckert St
65
Gra
Spr
gh Bri
19
Ave
lvd er B Riv
Eckert St
St Howard
19
le ysvil Perr
o Ohi
Wo od sR un Av e
Sta nto n Av e
All eg he ny Va lle yE xp y
Ave
N Ave
19
n Temo
Rd an ffm Ho
Maird ale S t
East St
n HOV L 1-279 en Rd Evergre
pride map
ey Rd Seav
34
ns S t
oad
380
e ln Av
inco
L Fran ksto wn A ve
St Pe n
SD
alla
sA ve
y Ave
nA ve
S Dallas Av e
s Ave Wilkin
d Av e 22
PrideMarch! produced in association with the GLCC
ve. A y t r e Lib
SUNDAY June 22nd @ noon
The March takes a new route winding through downtown from PNC First Side, down Boulevard of the Allies, to Stanwick Street and ending at PrideFest now on Liberty Avenue.
St.
Toss Coins In The Rainbow Flag Made famous from the infamous raid of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, where the patrons on the sidewalk, began throwing coins at the officers mocking the police pay-offs. Coins were quickly followed by rocks, bottles and anything else at hand. As the shocked police backed away, a wave of euphoria spread throughout the crowd and cheers ran out. We recognize the courage of those individuals by tossing coins in the passing Pride Flag. Coins collected in the flag will be donated our honoree, Shepherd Wellness Community.
wix
PrideMarch will steps off at noon on SUNDAY, June 22nd (moving from Saturday to Sunday this year). Leading the parade will be four individuals that we are honoring with the distinction of grand marshal this year: Father Lynn Edwards and City Council President Doug Shields will serve as the local representatives; Mary Lou Wallner and Jacob Reitan from the documentary “For the Bible Tells Me So” serving as the national representatives.
PrideMarch Route
PrideMarch Best Entrant Award March participants will be competing for best entry who exemplifies this year’s theme: “Live, Love, Liberty!”
Stan
Just as Pride has expanded from one day to a week, the PrideMarch has also expanded.
The procession proceeds down the Boulevard of the Allies heading west. The march turns right onto Stanwix Street. Finally turning right onto Liberty Avenue and ending into the new PrideFest site beginning at 7th Street at the Wood Street “T” Station. March participants line up at 10am gathering on 2nd Avenue at the intersection of Grant Street and the Boulevard of the Allies.
Boul
evar do
f the
Allie
s
Shuttle: Due to the March route beginning and ending in the downtown area, there will not be shuttles this year.
Four individuals that we are honoring with the distinction of Grand Marshal Mary Lou Wallner founded the not for profit organization TEACH: To Educates About the Consequences of Homophobia. She travels all over the country seeking to encourage other Christians to embrace gay youth. Her compelling story was featured in the award-winning documentary film, “For The Bible Tells Me So.” Jacob Reitan is a GLBT activist from Mankato, Minnesota, who’s family was featured in the documentary film, “For The Bible Tells Me So” for being arrested with his mother and father as they protested the ban on openly gay people being pastors in the church. Father Lynn Edwards founded the Shepherd Wellness Community to provide a safe and secure haven for HIV infected men and their friends. Father Edwards continues to serve on the Board of Directors and as an inspirational guide for the Shepherd Wellness Community in the mission of helping their members to live with dignity. City Council President Doug Shields has served in local government for over the past 20 years. He was elected to City Council to represent District 5 and by his peers to be the President of City Council after the passing of Mayor O’Conner. Shields has tirelessly worked to reach out to support the GLBT community in our city speaking up for our beliefs. Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
Parade Start: Downtown Pittsburgh
corner of Grant St & Blvd of the Allies The Parade will feature:
ACLU-PA Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church Bank of New York Mellon Bet Tikvah Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh DJ Escape Dreams of Hope East Liberty Presbyterian Church Eddie Sarfaty Ernest & Young Frank DeCaro Fredrick Ford Gertrude Stein Political Club GLCC GLCC Youth Group GLSEN Google House of Infinity Kimberley Locke Laurel Highlands Pageant—Shaka
Ashaed Marriage Equality USA - SWPA Miss Pegasus Bunny Bixlar Mr. Pittsburgh Pride Drag King 2008 Pegasus Persad Center PFLAG Pittsburgh Pittsburgh GLBT Corporate Roundtable Pittsburgh Eagle P*Town Purple Jesus Coalition Real Luck Café Reina Shepherd Wellness Steel City Softball League Straub Honda Hyundai The Cliks There Video Lounge Thomas Merton Center Three Rivers Leather Club Youth Empowerment Project and many more…. 36
Thank you to our Pride Week Sponsors:
Introducing the PridePass. Your one stop ticket to Pride Week. Includes:
Friday, June 20th 8:00pm-2:00am
• Free General Admission to Pride in the Street This pass has a value of over $100 • Free Admission to the Bar Crawl and you can get it for only $50. • Free Admission to the PrideFest Beer Garden PridePass is sold online at • Free Admission to the Three Rivers Arts Festival’s PittsburghPrideSpace.com “Take Me Out” Pick up ticket at Theatre Square Box Office Limited number available. Check online for our full listing of • Many added value discounts for Pride Week 2008. PridePass discounts.
Check out some of our PridePass paricipating businesses
AF ree
dr ink at eac hb ar
Thr part ee bus • 58 icipa ses c • 94 01 Videting barircle th e to • B 1 Salo o Lo s: wn goin • Calue Mo on unge g to • Do ttivo on on But • Im nny’s ler • Pit ages & Wee t z s i b e’s P •P ur ub & • Reegasusgh Eag l Club a e l • Sp Luc II k Ca • Th in fe • Til ere Vi Tic den deo Lo ung Tickkets ar e ets e $1 at P 5 in ittsb adv urgh anc Prid e. eSp ace .com
Club Pittsburgh 15 % off ID Lubricants for Pride Week. Donnie’s & Weezie’s Pub & Club II $1 off first drink. Eons Fashion Antique 10% off any purchase during Pride Week June 16-22, 2008. Discount does not apply to sale items.
ER Room 10% off total sale (exc. vinyl clothing) — anything in store; 15% off all vinyl clothing. Not good with any other discount; cash sales only.
Gay.com Free month of premium membership. Images Pittsburgh $1 off first cocktail No Cover Charge
Kayak Pittsburgh Present your PridePass at either location of Kayak Pittsburgh (downtown under the Clemente Bridge and at the North Park Boathouse) will receive VO member pricing - $5 discount – on the first hour of kayaking Michael Whitlinger Designs 15% off fresh flower boquet. $30 value or more. In store use only, no phone orders or deliveries.
Planned Parenthood Western PA Action Fund $10 off admission to our annual fundraising party ‘Panty Palooza: Boudoir Bazaar.’ Thursday, June 19, 2008, 6 to 9 p.m., Your Inner Vagabond Admission
cost for tickets purchased prior to June 13, $30 ($20 with Pride Pass), Admission price for tickets purchased June 14 or after, $40 ($30 with Pride Pass)
Real Luck Café Free House Shot & Free Pizza Limit one per customer
Pink House Catering / New Deli Llama Express $10 off catering order of $100 or more. $50 off catering order of $500 or more. Skin Beatiful Medical Spa $50 off any hair removal treatment. Offer valid until 6/30/2008. Cannot be combined with any other offer.
Station Square 2 Hours Free Parking in the Garage.
Present PridePass and your same day parking ticket from June 16 – 22 to the Guest Services Kiosk located inside the Freight House Shops (Mon-Sat: 10am to 9pm, Sunday: 12 to 5pm). Limit one free parking validation per PridePass per day. Not valid with any other parking promotions.
Tilden Show your PridePass and receive a free membership for 2008 sponsored by the Delta Foundation
per day.
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
38
Thank you to our Pride in the Street Sponsors:
Kimberley Locke m 00a : 1 o mt ks, nt p n i 0 r 0 sta ,d 7:
rt d te nce ol con rd, an y 21 o c e b o , d Jun arty ican I drick F osted , p y k r a H e c e urd blo g Am ger Fr ape. ance. t e a c u S s m n in rin dv Ave Featu , pop s ’s DJ E 5 in a ace.co y t r 1 r st
. e p $ Libe more Lock ve Tou s are rideS and berley l Groo Ticket urghP Kim Globa aro. Pittsb the nk DeC s visit Fra ticket For
Season 2 American Idol contest best known for her hits ‘Band of Gold’, ‘8th World Wonder’ and ‘Change’. www.myspace.com/kimberleylocke
Fredrick Ford
Porn Star and dance/pop music singer and songwriter. Hits include ‘Turn My World Around’, ‘Too Funky’ and ‘Out of the Dark’. FredrickFord.com
DJ Escape
New York City DJ featured on Centaur Music’s Global Groove Live 3 CD. DJEscape.com
DJ Tony Ruiz
Hometown DJ who travels the country spinning in cities such as New York, DC Chicago. DJTonyRuiz.com
Hosted by Frank DeCaro
Photos Courtesty: John Colombo
Pride in the Street’s Emcee is the host of Sirius Satellite Radio’s The Frank DeCaro Show. FrankDeCaro.com
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
40
905 Liberty Ave. | Pittsburgh, PA 15222 | 412.434.0510 Tues & Wed 10am to 9pm, Thurs. Noon to Midnight, Fri. 10am to 6pm, Sat. 8:30am to 3:00pm
produced in association with the GLCC
PrideFest!
Thank you to our Sponsors:
Sunday, June 22nd 1:00pm to 6:00pm
Three city blocks of FREE festival fun
featuring 2 stages of entertainment including Reina, The Cliks, comedian Eddie Sarfaty and many more. Plus, the Queer Cafe, Highmark Family Activity Area, Vendor Booths, Beer Garden, and much more. For complete details visit PittsburghPrideSpace.com. Liberty Avenue between 7TH & 10TH Streets Downtown
t
Pri
ar
G
Latin pop/dance singer whose hits include ‘If I Close My Eyes”, “Forgive” and “No One’s Gonna Change You.” 10TH Street Stage @ 5:30pm ReinasCastle.com
The Cliks
Out GLBT Canadian rock band who performed on the 2007 Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Tour in 2007. TheCliks.com 10TH Street Stage @ 3:00pm
Eddie Sarfaty
National touring gay comedian featured on LOGO TV’s The OutLaugh Festival. 7TH Street Stage @ 2:45pm KeepLaughing.com
r Beeden es deF
Cool off Coors, C with an icy cold Killian’s oors Light and Garden in our new Beer intersec located at the Street antion of Smithfield d Liberty Avenue. Just $15 g drinks o ets you unlimit from 1:00n Sunday, June ed 22nd pm to 6:0 0pm.
PrideFest Emcees Gab Bonesso
Gab Bonesso is a Pittsburgh comedian and radio personality on WXDX 105.9FM. GabBonesso.com
John McIntire
John McIntire is a talk show host on WQED’s “Off Q” and local comedian.
Booths ACLU Foundation of Pennsylvania Allegheny County Health Department Avon Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh Dignity Pittsburgh Edward Jones Investments Gay & Lesbian Community Center Gertrude Stein Political Club GLSEN Human Rights Campaign Metro Family Practice
Mexican War Streets Society Persad Center PFLAG Pittsburgh Pitt Men’s Study Pittsburgh Aids Task Force Pittsburgh Lesbian & Gay Film Society PittsburghPrideSpace.com Renewing Your Massage Shepherd Wellness Community Sixth Presbyterian Church
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
PERFORMANCES
Reina
Skin Beautiful Medial Spa Steel City Stonewall Democrats Steel City Volleyball League Tobacco Free Allegheny
Food Booths Family Grill Grandma’s Fries T.R.E.A.T. and many more....
MUSIC Renaissance City Choir
Pittsburgh’s gay and lesbian choir. 10TH Street Stage @ 2:15pm RCCPittsburgh.org
Patrick Arena
Pittsburgh gay jazz singer and songwriter. 10TH Street Stage @ 5:00pm PatrickArenaMusic.com
Pittsburgh Gospel Choir Local choir performing of sacred gospel, anthems, and hymns. 10TH Street Stage @ 2:00pm
Nancy Hammond
Local singer, songwriter and musician. 7TH Street Stage @ 2:30pm
Dreams of Hope
GLBT youth singers. 7TH Street Stage @ 3:30pm DreamsofHome.org
Vida Malcanas
Local cabaret singer 7TH Street Stage @ 4:15pm vidathesingingdiva.com
Soma Mestizo
Cindy Shaffer
World musical performance. SomaMestizo.com 7TH Street @ 4:30pm
DANCE Jeff Davis & Company
OTHER Drag Extravaganza
Local singer. 7TH Street Stage @ 2:15pm
Singing and dance performance. 7TH Street @ 3:45pm
Attack Theatre
Contemporary dance performance. AttackTheatre.com 10TH Street Stage @ 4:15pm
Knot Dance
Slightly off kilter dance performance. KnotDance. com 10TH Street Stage @ 4:30pm
Romance Vagabonds
Hip-Hop dance performance. 10TH Street Stage @ 4:45pm
Pittsburgh’s Drag Queens and Kings perform in three different stage shows with newly crowned holders including Miss Pittsburgh Pride, Mr. Pittsburgh Drag King, Miss Teen Pride, Miss Tri-County Pride, Miss Link Pride, Miss P-Town Pride. 10TH Street Stage @ 4pm & 5:15pm 7TH Street Stage @5pm
Vanessa German
One-woman, multimeda showof film, movement and spoken word. 10TH Street Stage @ 2:30pm 42
Design: Jonathan Fobear
PRIMARY USE LOGO: 2 color
www.PLGFS.org PRIMARY USE LOGO: B&W
REVERSED USE LOGO: 2 color
REVERSED USE LOGO: B&W
FREE LGBT film shorts from 1:00pm–5:00pm during the festival! These screenings will be at the Harris Theater located at 809 Liberty Ave. (across from Pegasus) t MORE? You wan screeningfor nal film An additioe month will be Prid Trevor” “Holding rks Cinema on o ide W m at Souths ne 27th at 9:00p Ju , y a d Fri
SAVE THE DATE October 17th - 26th
2008 Pittsburgh International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
GOD wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have given you a mind of your own if he she GOD didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want you to use it .
At East Liberty Presbyterian Church, we realize that a cookie-cutter church cannot best serve the needs of the community.
Come worship with an open mind
at East Liberty Presbyterian Church!
Photography and Design: Jonathan Fobear
We have opened our minds and our doors to people of every age, race, creed and sexual orientation.
The Cathedral of Hope 116 S. Highland Avenue 412.441.3800 www.cathedralofhope.org Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
44
We Provide
Lighting Solutions
920 Vista Park Drive • Pittsburgh, PA 15205 • 412.788.5250 VincentLighting.com
youth
fresh facEs, fr3sh voic3s =^J You’re young. Pre-teen or teenager or young adult and you’re gay. You may be comfortable in your skin but with no one to relate to, or you may be nervous and shy to reveal who you truly are, you’re sexuality is a strange thing and no one around you seems to share your feelings or interests. Maybe you rock out on the dance floor, sing, or speak poetry, but whatever it is Pride Week will have something for you. The Youth Coalition of Pittsburgh is a support network of more than 10 youth organizations offering social
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
activities, creative outlets and support to LGBTQ young people. During Pride Week these groups will participate in the festivities and share a common space at PrideFest on Sunday June 22nd. Among the interesting happenings for youth between June 16th and 22nd are a “Queer Cafe” which will be indoor during PrideFest, where young and old performers will be able to share music and poetry. According to a member of Closing the Gap; Joseph Wilke of Sexual and Gender Diversity Association (SAGDA) , suggested a meeting between local GLBTQ youth service providers. “He thought it would be a good idea for us to meet to discuss our efforts and goals for the year,” said Alexandria Pilecki a Behavioral Health Professional with Closing the Gap of Persad Center. With this idea in mind, Persad center hosted a meeting of some of Pittsburgh’s most influential people working in LGBTQ youth services.
Pink Party Productions, a local organization whose focus is to put together social events for the queer community, will be in the shared area at the festival. Among the participating groups; YEP; a youth led project that provides outreach, education, and support to young adults in various community settings, with a focus on HIV and STI prevention. GLSEN Pittsburgh focuses on creating safe school climates for ALL students. The House of Infiniti Pittsburgh offers a support network and positive, competitive social experiences to GLBTQ youth, with a particular focus on youth of color. And SAGDA is a community Gay Straight Alliance group in Pittsburgh that offers an affirming social environment for GLBTQ youth, said Pilecki. —Jessica Levine is a freelance journalist and poetician. She is also the Sales manager and community events coordinator for Borders Eastside, Pittsburgh.
46
culture
star power
made of steel
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t break a legâ&#x20AC;? should be Pittsburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s motto. And for good reason. We have one of the largest cultural districts in America. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re talking about 14-square blocks of pure culture. From theatres to galleries and dining all in the heart of our Golden Triangle. Five world-class theatres that put on 1,400 performances a year; from the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 8th oldest Opera, to the 8th largest ballet company; The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is also one of the most renowned orchestras in the world, currently on tour in Europe.
Want to try out some art? Check out several of the nearby exhibits; from the Wood Street Galleries, to the Watercolor Gallery, the American Institute of Architecture Gallery, and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget about the annual Three Rivers Arts Festival.
Just in the past year, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shelterâ&#x20AC;? (Julianne Moore), â&#x20AC;&#x153;Smart Peopleâ&#x20AC;? (Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker), â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Mysteries of Pittsburghâ&#x20AC;? (Sienna Miller), â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Bridge to Nowhereâ&#x20AC;&#x153;, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Adventurelandâ&#x20AC;&#x153;, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zack and Miri Make a Pornoâ&#x20AC;&#x153;, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Out of My Leagueâ&#x20AC;? have all been shot here.
Off the stage, and in front of the cameraâ&#x20AC;Ś Pittsburgh is known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Little Hollywoodâ&#x20AC;?. Not only have more than 100 films been shot in our city, but the film industry runs through our veins like the three rivers.
Whether you want to take in a show, or have your big screen debut, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the right city to claim your â&#x20AC;&#x153;15 minutes of fameâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Thomas West is a 5pm News Producer for WTAE TV-4.
American Shorts Reading Series and Persad Center Present
Poet & Writer
Mark Doty Author of Best-Selling Memoir Dog Years and Other GLBT Readers in:
PA S S A G E S
O F
G AY
P R I D E
9 HallkZmj_` Hja\] Dal]jYjq =n]fl Friday, June 20th New Hazlett Theater, North Side, 7:30 pm
Od^f`on ,+) >\gg /,-(1--(3311 jm qdndo rrr)kdoon]pmbcg`^opm`n)jmb
Featuring the Academy Award winning film, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Freeheld,â&#x20AC;? A Documentary By Cynthia Wade rjm_n' Ă&#x2DC;gh' hpnd^ Ă&#x192;pi_`m ji` mjja
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
48
Design: Tom Schneck II
Str8 to the ballgame and out of the Closet
“Take Me Out”, by playwright Richard Greenberg is the Book to Watch Out For and the play to see this summer. A collaboration between Borders, Barebones Productions and the Three Rivers Arts Festival that formed the perfect baseball diamond and you know what they say, if you build it... “It really ends up being about the love of baseball and how some things really are bigger than the individual,” said Chris Taylor the associate director of the Three Rivers Arts Festival. The Curve Ball, a baseball soire, the “Take Me Out” production running during the month of June and the
first annual Book to Watch Out For program featuring this amazing story. The Book to Watch Out For is one book for the whole community should read this summer. If you see someone sitting on a bench, riding the bus or at the library and reading this book, you can stop and say “Hey! Don’t you love the part...” Talk about the perfect way to start a conversation and make it past third base. On Wednesday June 17th, Borders in East Liberty will be hosting the book discussion of “Take Me Out” with well-known member of the arts and literary community Dan Iddings at 7:30pm.
If you don’t have anything else to say to that gorgeous being reading that book on the park bench, you can invite them to The Curve Ball, a party in celebration of the play, then after the party, see the play together. The play will be an adaptation of the original screenplay for sale at any bookstore. So even if you read the book, you haven’t seen the play! Talk about one way to get everything you want, the perfect date, a great book and people to share the experience with. Truly a home run.
Performing by special request at “An Evening with Joan Rivers” Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Lambda Foundation on June 21st.
Design: Jonathan Fobear
stage Q
Gays and Lesbians Creating Change Through the Power of Representing Pittsburgh at GALA Choruses Festival 2008 in Miami July 12th - July 19th
Renaissance City Choirs
Proud to march in Delta Foundations’ 2008 Pride Parade. Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
To find out about our upcoming performances and our holiday concert, “Make the Yuletide Gay” visit www.rccpittsburgh.org. 50
dahntahn
Nice Backyard Downtown Pittsburgh’s PPG Place ice skating rink is one of the most amazing pieces of architectural art in the city, one that combines the old with the new, where towers of black glass overlook the skating rink. The old, the new or the in and the out, this is downtown Pittsburgh.
cocktail on a school night or stumble home on a crazy night,” he said.
Next to PPG is Primanti’s Brothers sandwich shop. Truly not a sandwich shop, but a legend and classic for anyone who even visits the Burgh once.
“You know gays like their shows!” The Cultural District offers big Broadway productions, local plays, the symphony, opera or cabaret theatre. One can also enjoy the numerous downtown art galleries, with a gallery crawl once every three months. You also have your basic gay needs covered: dining, entertainment, shopping and a choice of gyms, said Myrick.
The Three Rivers Arts Festival is usually centered around this area every year and runs for three weeks in June. “Socially, it just works,” says Heath Myrick, a resident of downtown Pittsburgh for four years and marketing/promotion manager for WTAE Channel 4. Many new restaurants and businesses have recently opened and if you have a desire to go elsewhere, it’s a short drive to Shadyside or the Southside. As Liberty Avenue continues its “gay metamorphosis you can simply walk for a
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
“Because downtown is centrally located my loft typically becomes the meeting place for get-togethers or dinner parties. Did I mention the killer view at night?” said Myrick.
There are myths that downtown is not an attractive place to live because of parking, or its dangerous. Over 12,000 people live in the greater downtown area, and here are a couple of other guys living and breathing the downtown life. Andrew and Ryan, both 30-something young professionals who moved into a condo downtown around Easter this year.
Previously they lived in a house in Shadyside built in the 1800’s. “This is the first place I moved to that feels like this is where I am supposed to be.” says Andrew Pueschel. He is the hot young professional that just opened Absolute Ballroom in East Liberty, a studio offering competitive dancing for same-sex couples. This was “definitely more us,” says Andrew. The rent is actually cheaper than the house they rented in Shadyside, said Andrew. The building’s first four levels are for parking which is great for this couple whose first concern was parking for guests. Andrew and Ryan are also the first same-sex couple in Pittsburgh to have a commitment ceremony published in Pittsburgh’s society magazine “Whirl” which was six years ago. Their condo is part of a new high-rise called 151 First Side on Fort Pitt Blvd. with 84-units, open floor plans and about 1,500 square feet per unit. Their eigth floor condo is white, with black and red accents, wall to wall windows overlooking Station Square and several rooms. The glass balcony is directly above the highway and
52
overlooks the Monanghela river and the bridge to Station Square. From the balcony you can see the Gateway Clipper Fleet on the other side of the river.
take
“You can have that big city living with the neighborhood feel, that’s what Pittsburgh is known for.” Andrew explained describing the events he and his partner attend, “If you love sports, or just love watching the men that play them, Heinz Field, PNC Park and Mellon arena are minutes away. If you’re an outdoor guy or gal, you can hit the bike trial, jog riverside, rent a kayak or relax at Point State Park.” The only negative was the lack of a grocery store, recently solved with opening of Rose Bud, a small upscale store for basic shopping needs.
pride in yourself...
know your HIV status protect
“Pittsburgh is what you make of it, it has everything you want to have, you just have to go find it, it’s not gonna knock on your door.” They are active members of the Downtown Neighborhood Partnership, and regularly visit local places such as the downtown theatre events, their favorite restaurant McCormick and Schmick’s or the small deli down on seventh, the coffee shops around every corner and the Social Club meetings that are a block away. The glittering lights shine through their floor to ceiling windows, Andrew plays with the tiny chihuahua while Ryan cuts a berry pie for their guests and the security guard in the lobby. “I was worried the building would feel like a hotel,” says Ryan. He’s a professional dancer, as is Andrew, and travels most of the time. “But once you open the door, you know you’re home.” —Jessica Levine is a freelance journalist and poetician. She is also the Sales manager and community events coordinator for Borders Eastside, Pittsburgh.
your health!
pictures of 151 Firstside
FREE, ANONYMOUS HIV TESTING • 5913 PENN AVENUE / EAST LIBERTY TESTING HOURS: M-T-F: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm • W-Th: 9:00 am to 7:30 pm RAPID HIV TESTING: PRELIMINARY RESULTS IN LESS THAN 30 MINUTES.
4 1 2 - 3 4 5 - 7 4 5 6 • w w w. p a t f. o r g Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
54
celebrate
, K C A BL
250
years old?
You don’t look a day over 249. In 1758, on land that belonged to generations of Allegawis, Delaware, Seneca, Iroquois and other native tribes, a fort was built by British and Colonial troops. Led by Generals John Forbes and George Washington, the hastily built facility would be named in honor of British statesman Sir William Pitt. Thus, the seeds for the city of Pittsburgh were sown.
D L GO AY G n ‘
PrideFest and the annual parade have been the most visible expression of the local GLBT community for years. Yet, there is more to our history than this annual event. As part of Pride Pittsburgh’s contribution to Pittsburgh 250, here are a few of the many interesting GLBT historical events that happened in, or touched on, Pittsburgh: • Founded in 1972, Persad Center is the nation’s second oldest licensed counseling center specifically created to serve the GLBT community. • Randy Forrester runs as the first openly gay candidate for Allegheny County Commissioner in 1972. He loses, but his candidacy spurs the GLBT community to become more active in public affairs.
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
The Pittsburgh 250 Commission has organized Pittsburgh’s official 250th birthday. It is a cornerstone to what is to be a multiyear initiative. All year long there will be performances, exhibits and other activities in Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas. More information on the program can be found at ImaginePittsburgh.com and a good list of Pittsburgh 250 events — along with Pride Month events — can be found at PostGazette.com/ events
• A single-page newsletter called Gay Alternatives Pittsburgh debuts in 1973, and has since evolved into Out, the region’s GLBT newspaper.
• The Pittsburgh Lesbian & Gay Film Festival begins in 1985. Today, it is the second oldest GLBT film festival in the U.S.
• In 1975, the Metropolitan Community Church, a specifically GLBT-friendly Christian church, holds its first worship service with a mere ten people attending. It’s a part of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, which has churches in 22 countries. More than 30 years later the church is thriving with hundreds of members.
• Responding to the growing health crisis, the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force is formed in 1985. The organization provides direct support and information to those living with HIV/AIDS and those at risk of infection.
• The Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh has its beginnings in 1979 as an information phone line established by Persad. In 1981, the GLCC moves into its first offices and receives its non-profit designation in 1984. • In 1983, the Lambda Foundation is incorporated to foster the educational, social, cultural, health and artistic projects and programs for the area’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
• In 1985, the Renaissance City Choir is founded with a men’s and a women’s choir. They work to culturally enrich audiences through music while educating them about the GLBT community. • Bet Tikvah ("House of Hope") founded in 1988 for the GLBT Jewish community by holding worship services and events. • A local chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) is formed in 1989. PFLAG promotes the health of the GLBT persons with an 56
adverse society, education to enlighten the public. While advocating the end of discrimination. • Pittsburgh City Council votes in 1990 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. A group of conservatives fails to have the ordinance reversed in 1991. • A former instructor files a complaint against the University of Pittsburgh in 1996 that begins a complicated effort to obtain domestic partner benefits for employees. Health benefits are extended in 2004. • Originally incorporated on July 17, 1996, the Delta Foundation is created for the purposes of uniting and fostering fellowship and social interaction among the GLBT residents in Greater Pittsburgh. After hosting a number of picnics and river cruises, the organization falls dormant for several years. In late 2007, a different group of interested GLBT business owners and citizens come together and restart the foundation. • In 2000, Showtime debuts the American version of the hit British TV series “Queer As Folk.” Although set in Pittsburgh, the show is filmed entirely in Toronto for budgetary reasons. • In 2001, East Liberty’s Regent Square Theater reopens after renovation. It’s renamed the Kelly-Strayhorn, honoring gay jazz artist Billy Strayhorn.
gay artist Andy Warhol in 2005 and the 9th Street Bridge is renamed after naturalist Rachel Carson in 2006. Many scholars believe that Carson was either lesbian or bisexual. • On January 7, 2008, Bruce A. Kraus is sworn in as Pittsburgh’s first openly gay member of City Council. • Local bisexual author James A. Richards’ debut novel in 2008. • In 2008, a group of conservative politicians seek to amend the Pennsylvania constitution to ban samesex marriage, civil unions and partnership registries. In addition, some of the most important people in the GLBT world have Pittsburgh roots: Writer Gertrude Stein, a catalyst in the development of modern art and literature, was born on the city’s North Side; marine biologist and naturalist Rachel Carson grew up just outside the city; Andy Warhol was born and raised in Pittsburgh, first developing his artistic talents at what is now Carnegie-Mellon University; and Billy Strayhorn, though born in Ohio, launched his impressive musical career in Pittsburgh playing around the city with his first jazz combo, the Mad Hatters.
THE 2008 PITTSBURGH YOUTH SERVICE COALITION
www.dreamsofhope.org
PITTSBURGH
—James A. Richards manages the postgazette. com events calendar under MyManagerie, which he is also the founder.
• On September 11, 2001, it is believed that a group of passengers, including openly gay public relations executive Mark Bingham stormed the cockpit of United Flight 93 to force the plane down and keep it from its intended target of the White House.
EMBRACING DIVERSITY UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENCES
• A Pennsylvania court rules in 2002 that the former lesbian partner of a woman who bore five children during their relationship must pay child support. OF WESTERN
PENNSYLVANIA
• Two of Pittsburgh’s bridges are renamed after prominent GLBT people: the 6th Street Bridge is renamed after openly Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
57
Putting Pitt sburgh on the natio nal gaydar
Originally incorporated on July 17, 1996, the Delta Foundation was founded as a non-profit organization for the purposes of uniting and fostering good fellowship and social interaction among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents in the metropolitan Pittsburgh area. The organization went dormant for several years until on August 13, 2007, the founding members agreed to merge the Delta Foundation with a committee of concerned GLBT business owners and citizens who had been responsible for hosting large-scale events in the city of Pittsburgh for the GLBT community. This committee has organized three (3) events from December, 2006 to June. 2007 including: SPARK! – a holiday party/fundraiser that netted over $20,000 for the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh; Pride in the Street – A pride celebration on Liberty Avenue that featuring 80’s pop star Tiffany and dancing on Liberty Avenue with over 4,000 participants in June of 2007 and Splash – a summer pool party on Mt. Washington that raised $10,000 for Persad Center.
Photos Courtesty: JoJohn Columbo
who we are
April 20, 2008 with the Cast of Queer as Folk (L to R) Robert Gant (QAF), Gary Van Horn, Jr. (President), Loni McCartney (Board Member), Keri Harmicar (Board Member), Miss Pennsylvania 2008-2009 Lauren Merola, Steven Herforth (Vice President), Joe Senatore (Board Member), Tom Schneck (Secretary), Michelle Clunie (QAF), Peter Karlovich (Treasurer), Sharon Gless (QAF) Missing from the photo are Board Member Cindy Daro and Emeritus Board Member Donnie Thinnes.
Photos Courtesty: John Colombo
The new leadership of the Delta Foundation will be hosting several events every year to make the GLBT community a vibrant place for residents of Pittsburgh to live. Annual events will include the Pride Week Celebration (such as Pride in the Street, PrideFest, PrideMarch and Splash), Soak: Summer and Fall River Cruises, a Spike the Memorial Day weekend picnic and other events. The organization will also be raising money to support GLBT community organizations and causes in the Pittsburgh through a granting program. In order to help unite the GLBT community a resource website has just been launched. PittsburghPrideSpace.com features a community directory, detailed events listing for all community events, photo gallery and much more.
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
Upcoming Events
— Tom Schneck II is the Director of Marketing for Station Square and serves on the Board of Directors of the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh overseeing the Marketing & Entertainment for Pride Pittsburgh.
Gay Pimp Jonny McGovern SPARK 2007
SOAK Summer River Cruise Gateway Clipper featuring Pepper MaShay Sunday, July 6
SOAK Fall River Cruise Gateway Clipper Sunday, September 28
TIffany Pride in the Street 2007
Amber Fall River Cruise September 2007
Spark
Friday, December 5 2009
SPIKE Memorial Day Weekend Picnic North Park Lodge Sunday, May 24, 2009
Pride Pittsburgh
Monday—Sunday, June 15—21, 2009 58
If we can dream... we can make it happen.
Design: Jonathan Fobear
“...birds fly over the rainbow, why then, oh why can’t I?”
EONS Fashion Antique • 5850 Ellsworth Avenue • Shadyside • 412.361.3368 Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
59
USA ’n gay
more colors than just
RED, WHITE, and BLUE One of the definitions in the Encarta dictionary for Pride is “the best time, the best condition or period of something.” As we look back on our lives this year, on our history, and the history of our community...will we proudly say that we can see the best of times... the best of conditions...the best of ourselves in these celebrations? Take a moment this year to remember the first Pride event. Ahh the Stonewall Riots. It is truly a matter of perspective when we wonder and speculate whether the mission of Pride has changed over the last 40 years. While we celebrate the courage it took to band together against NYC police in the 1960s.... we can look around and say we are free to openly love each other on the streets of every major city. But our work is not done. Even today LGBT cannot marry those they have dedicated their lives to. Their are people in the world that still hate, discrimminate and attempt to persecute because of their own fear. When the Gay community banded
together for the first time and marched on NYC in 1968... they fought persecution...they fought for the right to live...to love...to be and they danced and screamed with Liberty. Think of how far we’ve come. When Gay men were forced to wear pink triangles during the holocaust... they dreamed of the days they could simply live, love and be. When gay people across the Earth were persecuted in the middle ages as laws outlawing sodomy and “indecency” swept through the churches....people prayed for the day they could openly live, love, and be. We have struggled through our lives to openly define and express who we are. Our collective history is one fraught with tragedy, hate and bravery. And our fight is not over. This year we will march on Liberty Ave. in Pittsburgh and shout, laugh and lift our voices so that the whole world will see...we are proud to live the way we want, proud to love who we choose, and proud to be who we are. And everyone is invited! Meanwhile parties, celebrations and parades will be filling the streets of the whole world this June. Pride will be everywhere. What will the world see when they walk into the streets and see men, women and children celebrating without fear? The rainbow flag will proudly wave. Glasses will clink, beer cans will splash, singing and kissing and love will pour over the streets, across
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
the front newspapers of the world, splashed on every news station. And people will see the colors of the rainbow and know what that means. Pride is a 39 year-old celebration that hasn’t shown its age yet; except for in the wisdom and experience of knowing how to throw one hell of a party! Whether it was in the 1990s when the birth of zines and poetry slams hit the scene...or the 1980s when the threat of AIDS and the
introduction of freedom rings colored the scene...or the 1970s which most people don’t remember too much of but surely was a hell of a good time... PRIDE only promises to grow stronger, louder and better. So this year invite your straight, curvy, bi, transgender, queer, dyke and shy friends. Enjoy the events, the good times and the celebration of PRIDE, to live to love to liberty! Design: Jonathan Fobear
Wikipedia says “Pride is an emotion which refers to a strong sense of self-respect, a refusal to be humiliated as well as joy in the accomplishments of oneself or a person, group, nation or object that one identifies with.”
60
In Loving Memory of
Randy Forrester Persad Founding Director and Local Gay Activist
He founded the region’s first gay and lesbian rights organization, the Mattachine Society. In 1972, he and Huggins formed the Persad Center, making it the nation’s second oldest licensed counseling center specifically created to meet the needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Randy served as the agency’s first Executive Director. He was among a group of local leaders that were the first to respond to the crisis of AIDS in the early 1980’s when AIDS was a death sentence to many gay men. Randy worked on the city’s nondiscrimination act to end the fear of gay Pittsburghers that they could be fired just for being gay. Randy served on the board of the
4130 Butler
@ 42nd St.
Randy Forrester, an icon of the gay rights and AIDS awareness movements in Western Pennsylvania, passed away on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, after a lengthy bout with cancer at the age of 60. “Once you met Randy, you would never forget him, because he would make an impact on you,” said Forrester’s partner of 37 years Jim Huggins. “He was that kind of a person. And he spoke his mind with tact, but bluntness. He didn’t pull punches if he thought that it was something that needed to be said. And not everybody liked him for that. But they respected him.” Forrester of Fox Chapel boasted an impressive resume.
PGH
Randy Forrester, with his partner Jim Huggins
ACLU and was honored in 2006 as the Pittsburgh chapter’s Civil Libertarian of the Year. Randy was named #53 in Pittsburgh Magazine’s 1999 list of the 100 most influential Pittsburghers of the 20th century and became the first gay person to run for Pittsburgh City Council, friends remembered. “A natural leader, Forrester knew how to reach people,” said Chuck Honse, one of the founders of the Delta Foundation. “He was a mentor in a great many ways,” Honse said. “He instilled that spark of community, that sense of community, in people.” “I think Randy is arguably this region’s most influential gay rights figure,” said Betty Hill, who succeeded Forrester as executive director of Persad Center. “I can’t think of anybody else in this region who has done more for the gay community or the HIV/AIDS community than Randy.” Excepts for this article were taken from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and a press release from the Persad Center.
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
412-683-1623
A Pleasant Present Welcomes Survivor Celebrities
Kathy Pittsburgh’s Own Sleckman Chet Welch See them in the Pride March then visit them at our booth and stock up on all of your pride gear
Tracy Hughes-Wolf
Proudly serving Pittsburgh for 14 years! Visit our store for Pittsburgh largest selection of LGBT merchandise 2301 Murray Avenue and everything you need to make your gift-giving experience
A Pleaseant One.
Squirrel Hill 412.421.7104
61
q&a
Aquadisiac
is
Not Herself These Days New York Times Bestseller “I Am Not Myself These Days” author Josh Kilmer-Purcell talks with us about his life before and after drag.
PridePGH: Ever been nipple to fish? I’m not entirely sure what you mean by this, but it sounds kinky so, yes, I’ve probably done it. Twice...
PridePGH: Was “I Am Not Myself These Days” a love story? It is definitely a love story – as unique as some of the people involved might be. I think the one thing that sets it apart from most love stories, however, is the way it ends. Usually most written love stories end with the heroes living happily every after, or tragically separated. “I Am Not Myself These Days” ends, I think, like most real-life love stories. It just ends. We each (Jack and I) emotionally packed up what we needed from the relationship, and walked away. A little sadder, and not all that much wiser. Just away. I believe that’s more true-to-life. I don’t know many living people who have real-lives like romantic comedies.
PridePGH: There is so much in this memoir, what would you say is the true love interest for AquaDisiac?
Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
Aqua’s love is only for herself. Well, and for vodka. But mostly herself. I created Aqua, my drag alter-ego, because I am naturally shy. I needed this creation to speak for me. I think being afraid of meeting the world head on is a sign of not really loving who you are. What’s interesting, and instructive, is that through my years of being Aqua I overcame my shyness. Aqua’s incessant and overwhelming narcissism was exactly what I needed to become an insufferable person out of drag as well.
PridePGH: And did Josh find love without her? Yes, I’ve been with my partner for eight years now. He’s pretty much responsible for me getting my act together. Or at least as together as I could get it.
PridePGH: What was the best pick-up line you ever heard? I was usually the one attacking others, so most people never had the chance to try to pick me up. If you were within fifteen feet of me by last call, you didn’t stand a chance.
PridePGH: How much of your first year in NYC was Aqua and how much was Josh? Was there a difference between the two characters? Looking back, I’d say the first couple of years in NYC belong to Aqua. I don’t remember many things outside of my experiences with her. She was my filter to the world. If I didn’t have her as a shield, I probably never would have made it in NYC, which is ironic since she was also the one that put me in the most compromising situations. For your second question, I guess the fact that I still refer to Aqua as another person indicates that we’re two separate beings. And that I need therapy.
PridePGH: After the book, did Aqua get many requests to come out and play? A lot. And I do miss her some days. But she’s not worth the trouble she causes. It would be like an alcoholic having one drink. A lot like that, in fact.
PridePGH: Where are Jack and the other Drag Queens now? 62
Though I’m not legally allowed to say much, I can say that Jack contacted me soon after the book came out. He is well, and not living in NYC. The other drag queens? Your guess is as good as mine. Unlike real people, they can disappear off the face of the earth and there is no way of tracking them down. I don’t even know many of their legal names. So, like Aqua, I assumed many have perished.
PridePGH: Where does the next book you are working on “Candy Everybody Wants” take place?
the perfect summer beach book – light and fast-paced.
PridePGH: What is your favorite thing about living in NYC? Like many New Yorkers, my favorite thing about NYC is getting away from it and then realizing how good I really have it. —Jessica Levine is a freelance journalist and poetician. She is also the Sales manager and community events coordinator for Borders Eastside, Pittsburgh.
Oh it takes place all over, beginning in Wisconsin, moving to NYC, and then to Hollywood. Writing fiction was a fun release for me, since anything was possible. It was like a whole new world, and I ran around and explored all of it. It was a blast, and I wrote it as
Steel City Stonewall Democrats A proud BGLT voice in Pittsburgh politics www.steel-city.org Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
63
E F I L L A RE the closet
coming out s tories
Denmark fell in love with her college roommate at Bowling Green State University in 1981 and found the courage to tell her family and friends. But she says her true coming out came two years later when she attended her first GLBT march in Washington, D.C. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Being in the midst of over one million gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people made me realize that the personal was the
political,â&#x20AC;? Denmark says.
Denmark went on to march for advocacy many more times, and in 1994, she attended the 25th Anniversary celebration of the Stonewall Rebellion in New York City. It was there she met prominent gay rights activist Barbara Gittings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thanks to people like her, I was able to come out sooner rather than later in life.â&#x20AC;? Stories like Denmarkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s are told often. Sometimes overlooked are the coming out stories of straight parents: The admission of my son/daughter is gay is an important one.
H G L U 3 \ +DSS IURP
Stella Oleska describes her initial discomfort in coming home to her teenage daughter, Trish, â&#x20AC;&#x153;sitting too close on the couch to one of her girl friends.â&#x20AC;? Fear, discomfort, and denial prevented Oleska from addressing the issue. Eventually, one of her daughterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s friends talked to the mother. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Trish was so resentful because I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bring it up myself â&#x20AC;&#x201D; especially after I told her I had known all that time,â&#x20AC;? Oleska says. Looking for extra support, the mother attended a meeting for Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and talked to other parents of gay children. Each had a coming out story. And Oleska learned that when she told
Design: Tom Schneck II
Pittsburgh radio personality Dinah Denmark knew that she was attracted to the same sex as young as 8 years old. She was sure of her orientation by high school, but because of her suburbian upbringing in the late 70s, she did not feel safe coming out.
The Pitt Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Study 1-800-987-1963 www.stophiv.com/pms Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
64
people that her daughter was a lesbian, she was coming out, too. “I really got an education at PFLAG,” Oleska says. “Parents fear acceptance, too.”
As a girl who grew up in a strictly conservative and staunchly religious household and a woman who graduated from a private religious university, I was buried in denial about who I was. Ironically, all of my friends were gay, and all of my crushes were girls. But I didn’t know I was a lesbian until I met Stacey.
Oleska recounts years of telling friends and family members about her daughter’s orientation. The news was not always well received, and it even resulted in some alienation from family members, but the mother has remained consistent. “The best thing we can do for our children is to come out,” Oleska says. “It’s about supporting your gay child.
I took her hand, and I joined the legion of us who march forth. With pride. —Victoria Bradley is senior editor at Whirl Magazine.
On July 7, 2007, Oleska celebrated the marriage of her daughter, who is now 42, to her partner, Kim George. “I invited all my friends,” Oleska says. “And they all came. I was so excited.” Design: David Seman
My uncle, Victor, was never caught sitting too close to a boy on the couch, and he never marched for gay rights. He dated women for most of his life and struggled regret that he had never experienced a true romantic relationship, never fell in love. It wasn’t until he was 45 that he admitted to himself that his feelings of admiration for men were actually feelings of attraction. His quiet coming out in his own journal happened on March 4, 2007, a date he loves because it’s also a call to action: March forth. The next month, he came out to me, the niece who was named after him, followed by the rest of our family. I watched as he came out to friends and coworkers. He was forging a path that neither one of us knew at the time.
Buying • Selling • Appraisals WE BUY: • Gold & Silver • U.S. & Foreign • Scrap Gold 8K through 24K • All Platinum • Jewelry • Wire • Industrial • Pocket Watches • Sterling • Diamonds • Antique Jewelry • Bullion • Gold • Silver • Platinum
Design: Jonathan Fobear
Eddie Lowry Owner
Design: Jonathan Fobear
The following October, I came out, too.
IF LOW INTEREST RATES ARE GETTING YOU DOWN, LET’S TALK.
Deborah Hughes Financial Advisor
412.261.5696
Downtown Pittsburgh Open daily 9am-5pm
347 4th Ave. (Corner of 4th Ave. & Smithfield St.)
Same Same Location Location 47 Years Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
105 Freeport Rd Ste 101 Pittsburgh, PA 15215 412-363-2686 www.edwardjones.com
Member SIPC 65
Design: Tom Schneck Design: Jonathan Fobear
Phone: (412) 653-7111 Fax: (412) 655-4778 email: pinkhousecatering@aol.com Angela Kersnick • Deborah Weaver
Always with PRIDE!
4740 Baum Boulevard, North Oakland 4126210111—www.PTOWNpgh.com
5624 Brownsville Road Pittsburgh, PA 15236
Got Wrinkles? before
D.L. RICHIE int’’nn Decorating Center Paint - Interior/Exterior painting - Plaster repair - Wallcovering installation & removal
after
Get BOTOX
®
5421 Brightwood Road, Bethel Park | 412-833-0237 www.dlrichie.com
$50 Off Any Treatment Coupon must be presented at time of treatment to receive discount. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Expires 10/31/08
Visit our Showroom - Mohawk Carpenting - Exotic Hardwood Interior/Exterior Painting - Wilsonart Plaster RepairLaminate - Hunter Douglas Blinds Wallcovering Installation & Removal
Large selection of environmentally responsible paints, wallcovering and flooring.
public relations advertising marketing
2541 E Carson St.
412.432.7909 skinbeautifulspa.com Pride Pittsburgh Magazine | PittsburghPrideSpace.com
www.MarkowitzCommunications.com 66
show us 2pm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2am 365 Days a Year
your 412.391.9990 www.imagespgh.com
Design: Jonathan Fobear
965 Lib ery Ave . Pittsbu rgh
anything but conventional
in the cultural district 412 562 1200 renaissancepittsburgh.com