Pittsburgh will celebrate its 50th LGBTQ+ Pride Month in June, and officials say the event has taken on added significance this year as that community has been “under attack” across the nation.
City Councilman Bruce Kraus, D-South Side, said he can’t remember a time that was “so malicious and so callous” to members of the LGBTQ+ community since he came out as a gay man in 1972.
Kraus cited threats and acts of violence, as well as legislation being considered across the country that would impact which bathrooms transgender people can use and health care for members of that community.
“I don’t know that we have ever had a more important time in which we need to openly celebrate the wonders of our community,” Kraus said at a news conference Wednesday. “I don’t remember a time when we have been as systematically under attack from less than honorable political forces.”
Maria Montaño, the city’s first transgender mayoral press secretary, said there are about 400 pieces of legislation across the nation targeting members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“This is a tough time for members of my community,” she said.
Montaño said Pittsburgh has a “strong, proud history of fighting for the rights” of the LGBTQ+ community.
Sue Kerr, co-chair of the city’s LGBTQIA+ Commission, said pride events have grown and expanded over the past 50 years.
“The first gay pride (in Pittsburgh) was June 17, 1973, and less than 50 individuals met at Point Park and marched through the streets,” Kerr said, adding that she wonders what those people would think about the larger scale of events taking place now.
The annual pride parade will be held Saturday, Montaño said.
The city is working to ensure there is adequate security from the city’s Department of Public Safety, she said. Members of the LGBTQ+ community have raised money for additional security. She said she could not comment on whether the city has received any threats related to the events.
Kerr said the LGBTQIA+ Commission has work to do to “fight against the forces of hate” and ensure LGBTQ+ youth “grow up in a city free of bias.”
Billy Hileman, the commission’s secretary, cited statistics showing about 45% of LGBTQ+ youth have considered suicide and about 20% have attempted suicide. He urged the city, local businesses and others to do their part to make those young people feel welcomed and supported.
“Pride is a celebration,” he said. “But it’s also a call to action.”
