Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Little Pridefests Everywhere and the waves of Pride organizing in Pittsburgh and Beyond. This is a draft of an essay I submmitted to multiple sites about the nature of a Pride festival. It was not accepted for publication because they publish Pride pieces in June. I think they missed my point. ~ Sue

Once upon a time, a long time  Pittsburgh organizer and LGBTQ pioneer gay man named Jim Fischerkeller, I had a conversation about changes to Pridefests during our lives. He had a theory that Pride did not belong to any one organization or group or identity so as new people took over the planning, it would evolve and change. Not necessarily grow larger in terms of attendance or money, but expand along with the understanding of LGBTQ+ identity. 

I wrote about this in 2021 and touched on it again in 2024.

It was fluid, but we didn’t use that language when I had that conversation with him. 

The multitude of Prides reflect the growing demand and need for statewide protections. Elected officials in red and purple parts of the state should face increased pressure for fairness for neighbors. I hope these Pride festivals will lead to political advocacy and activism. Each Pride community is represented by one State Senator and one State Representative. They need to know what is expected by their constituents around fairness and equality, then they should vote accordingly. 

The Theory Emerges

A good example is Pittsburgh where  we started with a ‘Gay Pride March’ and ‘Gay Pride Week’ in June 1973. The change in language over the years from Gay to Gay and Lesbian to GLB to GLBT to LGBT and onward reflects the inner changes of the community. To clarify, I am using examples from Pittsburgh. I know there were resistance events and actions prior  to 1969 across the nation. They would reinforce my case, but I am focused on Pennsylvania. 

Jim told me he saw pride as waves – the street wave of the early 70’s, the discrete picnic in the park wave of the 80’s, the more visible park festivals in the early 90s, the neighborhood street Prides, the move Downtown in the early aughts, the bar and pub sidewalk pride, the defiance pride years, and now we are back in the park again. Different park, bigger event. 

Different organizers, different budgets, different priorities. These are generalizations meant to show that Pride has a life of its own, not fixed designations that would require more critical social science analysis. It is a fluid way to describe a hallmark component of the community. 

Some people have preferences to pop a squat under a shady tree with a snack while people watching or proximity to LGBTQ bars. Some prefer quieter events, some more bold and in your face. These preferences might be personal, political, practical, or fiscal. But they aren’t hierarchical. 

It is important here to acknowledge that Pittsburgh Black Pride was established  in 1995 and has continued almost every year minus one. They are the longest running Pride in the region, possibly the entire state. That doesn’t mean BIPOC folx were not leaders and organizers in other events, but it does remind us that expanding our understanding of LGBTQ+ identity must include racial justice issues. 

Also important to note the silent or quiet years, especially in the 80s. Pride events were happening, just more discreetly. When I speak with community elders who describe almost furtive, but joyful gatherings carefully constructed to be just another family cookout, they are describing lifelines in an everyday reality without many bars, no legal protections if they were spotted visiting one of the few bookstores, and public rhetoric that was dehumanizing. 

And The Other Theory

Meanwhile in 2025, up have sprung the phenomenon I call ‘Little Pridefests Everywhere’ to capture the hyperlocal nature of Pride events in Ross Township, Mt. Lebanon, Bellevue, Dormont, Greenfield, Scottdale in Allegheny County surrounding Pittsburgh. Then move outward to Vandergrift, Connellsville, Washington, New Castle, Greensburg, Latrobe, Johnstown, Indiana, Fayette County, the Shenango Valley, Venango and more in the rural counties of  Southwestern Pennsylvania. 

This is very consistent with how Pittsburgh at least organizes – of course there is a Pride in Bloomfield, Lawrenceville, East Liberty, as well as Millvale, Etna, etc – communities just a few miles apart and within spitting distance of the largest community Pride event early in June. 

These little Pridefests everywhere challenge us to reconsider how the LGBTQ population is distributed across the state. It is not true that most LGBTQ+ people live in Philly and Pittsburgh proper.

In 2024, I wrote this for LGBTQ Nation

A much-distorted quote from political campaign strategist James Carville during Bob Casey Sr.’s 1986 gubernatorial race usually manifests as “Pennsylvania is Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with Alabama in the middle.” 

That crude disdain for voters outside the largest cities hurts candidates and is far from accurate. Democrats maintain strongholds in areas like Erie, Scranton, and other communities that chose President Biden in 2020.  Pennsylvania’s medium-sized, more rural cities are reliably blue. Some progressive LGBTQ+ folks actively choose to live in rural areas, as documented in Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents’ #AMPLIFY Project, which showcases local queer voices from across the state. 

It is our own peril that we dismiss the LGBTQ+ communities in rural parts of  Pennsylvania. 

Actually, most LGBTQIA+  live ‘elsewhere’. During the  2015-2017 AMPLIFY project,  I recorded multiple interviews with rural community members who wanted to live in small towns or rural communities and celebrate their LGBTQIA+ identity. One was 40 year old Mel who didn’t want to live in a city like Pittsburgh or Erie, but did want more LGBTQ+ supports in her rural community. Shelly found affirmation in a college town within Indiana County. Others shared similar experiences. This was a decade ago. Have things changed?

In 2023, Westmoreland County had three different Pride festivals – Greensburg, Scottdale, and Vandergrift. That makes a lot of sense for a county as sprawling and rural as Westmoreland. And it is an impressive type of expansion  – all three events continue in 2025. Westmoreland County does not have nondiscrimination protections, but it very much has a significant LGBTQ+ population. In 2025, New Kensington added a Pride picnic. Greensburg organized a Pride Prom. 

How Many Pridefests?

It is a lot of work to organize multiple pride festivals in the bluest portions of Pittsburgh per se, but entirely different to tackle an event in a community that does not protect your identity, possibly does not value it. 

So I looked more closely at data. How many  Pride events were scheduled in Pennsylvania and the tri-state area? I used Facebook, Google search, media resources to search. 

In 2019, I identified 50 Pride type events.

In 2022, we again documented about 50 events of all types on a Facebook group thread. 

In 2024, I had found 75 Pride festivals and events like drag shows, open mike nights, bar crawls, softball games and more. I did not include corporate events. These were documented in my blog, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents. 

In 2025, I found 88 Pride festivals alone, not counting other types of celebrations.. I included a few other events, but then had to stop counting. While I am absolutely sure I missed events (my apologies), the pattern is clear – we are not backing down. There are more Pride festivals in Pennsylvania than ever. I’m certain the number of other types of events has also increased. 

 Then, I decided to compare these events to the roughly 33% of  the state that have nondiscrimination protections by laying one map on top of the other. 

What I expected to see  was clusters of Pride festivals in or close to areas with nondiscrimination protections. 

What I actually see is a 50/50 breakdown, a curious state of affairs. One that suggests that Pennsylvania is not as anti-LGBTQ as one might otherwise think. 

I created this image (I don’t know how to overlay) to give you an idea of what I’m describing. 

Considering the absolutely brutal political climate targeting trans youth and adults as well as the larger queer community, our BIPOC neighbors, immigrants both documented and undocumented, it seems probable that most LGBTQIA+ people would want to lay low or remain in safe spaces. Corporate funding has shriveled along with DEI capitulation. Staff of LGBTQ organizations have also shrunk. People are losing jobs, healthcare, housing, and their sense of safety. 

And without statewide nondiscrimination protections, they aren’t safe. If their boss sees them as a Pride festival, they could lose their job. If their landlord sees them, their housing could be in jeopardy. Local businesses could deny Pride attendees business or access to a bathroom. People can be that petty and vicious with little to no consequences. And we know ICE can act without impunity. 

Still, people organize and attend local Pride festivals. 

The multitude of Prides reflect the growing demand and need for statewide protections. Elected officials in red and purple parts of the state should face increased pressure for fairness for neighbors. I hope these Pride festivals will lead to political advocacy and activism. Each Pride community is represented by one State Senator and one State Representative. They need to know what is expected by their constituents around fairness and equality, then they should vote accordingly. 

These electeds aren’t reading the zines and reddit threats. So mail them copies to show the magnitude of support Pride has in their district?

Elected officials would be wise to take note of this data, realize that most Pennsylvanians  are not bigots, and focus their energy to address the lack of  policy protections and turn their attention to the  issues all of us care about. 

Is there much to celebrate? 

Yes and no. Pride was a revolution, building on queer and trans resistance stretching back decades before 1969. Marching in the streets in the 1970s was brave and defiant. It always has been.Existing, even quietly to ourselves, is  defiant. 

We need spaces safe to find solace and support, but also fiery spaces to fuel our defiance and forge our resistance. 

The return of the Pittsburgh Dyke March is one example of reclaiming gay spaces for queer and trans communities. These are their streets. They use time held tactics such as handmade posters, flyering and the bar community. But they also provide transport vehicles and accessible portable toilets. They have a policy of keeping the pace comfortable for everyone. They demand inclusion as an everyday principle, not a special guest star. 

They do these things in the heart of blue Pittsburgh known as Lawrenceville. Even a City with legal safeguards, progressive policies, and allies has a long way to go to achieve liberation. There’s much more work to be done in a City divided by race, lacking affordable housing, and dominated by institutions that do not respect us – UPMC, University of Pittsburgh, CMU, labor unions to name a few.

When I attend Prides, I’ve found that exploring the tables set up in parks and parking lots brings me back to an era when demanding action led to groundbreaking advances treating HIV and changes in lesbian health, when an all-volunteer phone line grew into a community center, and when organizations collaborated to create safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ youth every Friday night for over 20 years. 

The increased number of Pridefests suggests similar collaborative efforts in these many towns as they push back against school boards and stand firmly with trans kids’ healthcare. 

And larger Pride events reliant on shrinking pools of corporate and government funds might  realize that the little Pridefest everywhere provide a new path forward.  Imagine a Pridefest in every one of our 67 counties. Organic and community driven, not imposed. 

There will probably always be street parties with huge parades alongside quiet events in parks. Both are necessary as is everything in between. 

Conclusion

The beautiful thing about Jim Fischerkeller’s waves  or fluidity analysis is the infinite possibility of each Pride  festival. It is glorious  that we can look back 50+ years to understand how Pride has unfolded in our communities. I wonder if those mid-century pioneers imagined the possibility of a pride event in Elk or Lycoming counties? Or three + events in Westmoreland County? 

The Little Pridefest Everywhere didn’t spin off from Pittsburgh Pride, they grew from the experiences and handwork of the grassroots. Pittsburgh’s Pride is very much a part of that and clearly among the larger events, but it too has morphed over many decades – providing examples rather than exactitudes. 

These two phenomenon  work together – Pridefests could emerger everywhere, usually little at first. But their organic tendency to evolve isn’t a static, predictable evolution.

Maybe we need a sociologist to consider the Fischerkeller Theory of Pridefests and watch what happens over the next 50 years? 

Note that I call this phenomenon ‘Little Pridefests Everywhere’ but it is important to give credit for the concept of Pride fluidity to Jim Fischerkeller, 

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