The annual LGBTQ celebration moves to the Andy Warhol Bridge.
A new rainbow Port Authority bus isn’t the only thing on the move this Pride season.
Pittsburgh Pride, which has been held on Liberty Avenue for the past 12 years, will move to the Andy Warhol Bridge and Fort Duquesne Boulevard this weekend with headlining performances by Walk the Moon and Toni Braxton.
It will be the first time either artist has performed at a Pride event.
Braxton, who grew up singing in church with her four sisters in Severn, Md., was signed by producers L.A. Reid and Babyface in 1991 and had her first hit in 1993 with “Another Sad Love Song.” She went on to win seven Grammys and sell more than 67 million records,
“Toni Braxton is a legend and iconic and has been a friend to the LGBTQ community for decades,” said Christine Bryan, director of marketing and development for the presenting Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh. She added that Braxton is rehearsing a new show for the event.
Braxton said in a statement, “It’s very easy to emulate Toni Braxton on both sides. Over the years I think that might be one of the reasons my LGBTQ fans have connected with me. I am who I am. I’m an androgynous artist and I’m comfortable in my own skin.”
She will be joined by Rina Sawayama, a Japanese-British singer/songwriter and model who identifies as pansexual.
Walk the Moon broke out of Cincinnati in 2014 with the hit “Shut Up and Dance.” The band took a break from touring in 2016 when frontman Nicholas Petricca’s father died, and during that break, he spent much of his time reflecting on his sexuality and spirituality, according to Entertainment Weekly. Walk the Moon’s music since has focused on some of the band members’ personal growth during that time.
Ms. Bryan says that bringing Pittsburghers together to dance in the streets can “create a conversation that the LGBT community is just like you and I, that we’re just people that want to be treated equally and with respect.”
The weekend of events will be held on the Andy Warhol Bridge, extending onto Fort Duquesne Boulevard between Seventh and Ninth streets, including Fort Duquesne Boulevard Park. According to the Delta Foundation, Pittsburgh Pride 2019 will be the first pride event to be held on a bridge.
Delta Foundation president Gary A. Van Horn Jr. said in a press release that organizers “believe Andy Warhol, Pittsburgh’s gay icon, would be thrilled that it will take place on his namesake bridge.”
Pittsburghers voted for this year’s theme, “We Are One.” The weekend is more than just concerts; Pittsburgh Pride includes PrideFest, Equality March and a closing party with DJ Tony Moran.
PrideFest will take place Saturday and Sunday afternoons with more than 150 vendors, a kids activity area, the Mylan Wellness Village, a doctor match game, and more. It is free, family-friendly and accessible to people with disabilities.
A highlight of this year’s event is the Check Your Blind Spots bus, a tour bus fitted with several stations focusing on unconscious bias, created by CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion.
Additionally, PrideFest will have several entertainers performing each day, including Pittsburgh natives Princex, C.J. Mitchell and The Lemington Gospel Chorale of Pittsburgh. Performances will take place on the Pennsylvania Lottery Stage on the corner of Fort Duquesne Boulevard and Ninth Street, and at a stage at the end of the Andy Warhol Bridge near Isabella Street all day long.
“I remember going to some of my first pride festivals and just realizing, like, I didn’t realize I was walking around the world being so guarded until I was surrounded by a community of people where I could comfortably be myself,” singer-songwriter Namoli Brennet said.
Brennet, a veteran performer at pride festivals who just finished a tour in Germany, will perform at 4:45 p.m. on Sunday on the stage on the Andy Warhol Bridge. Brennet further describes pride festivals as a “super safe, supportive, comfortable space with a lot of self-expressed people.” She was featured in the 2013 Trans 100 list, and her music was in the Emmy-winning 2009 documentary “Out in the Silence.”
The Equality March will start at the corner of Grant Street and the Boulevard of the Allies, proceed down Grant, take a left onto Fifth Avenue, and then make a right onto Liberty Avenue. The march will be led by TransPride Pittsburgh and include leaders of companies such as U.S. Steel, which recently added gender reassignment surgery to its health care coverage.
Pittsburgh Pride will close with a dance party at the intersections of Fort Duquesne Boulevard and Seventh Street on Sunday.
In anticipation of Pittsburgh Pride, Port Authority and The Delta Foundation unveiled a rainbow pride bus on May 29. The Delta Foundation also held its annual Big Gay Picnic on May 26 at North Park Lodge
to kick off this month’s pride events.
Pride events are typically held in June to remember the Stonewall uprising of 1969. This year, for the 50th anniversary, beyond Pride, the Delta Foundation is set to unveil a new “Artistic Intersection” at the corner of Ellsworth and Maryland in Shadyside on June 28.