{"id":209411,"date":"2026-06-03T11:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/209411\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T11:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:23:09","slug":"we-will-always-pull-this-off-say-pittsburgh-pride-organizers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/209411\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We will always pull this off,’ say Pittsburgh Pride organizers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Pride Group, a consortium of local organizations that produce the annual Pride celebration, has dealt with challenges before, but the run-up to the 2026 event has been one for the books.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As recently as April, the organization faced a $150,000 budget shortfall due to a dramatic reduction in corporate sponsorships<\/a>. Past sponsors such as Tito\u2019s Handmade Vodka and Walmart did not respond to requests to participate this year, according to group member Sam Wasserman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe local Walmart employees tried to do everything they could, but HQ blocked it fully,\u201d Wasserman said. He believes it\u2019s a reaction to the federal government\u2019s rejection of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) policies.<\/p>\n

But the community and elected officials have stepped in. State Reps. Jessica Benham and La\u2019Tasha D. Mayes, Democrats from Allegheny County, worked to obtain state funding, while County Executive Sara Innamorato\u2019s office helped secure march permits for the Roberto Clemente Bridge and a $5,000 grant. VisitPITTSBURGH signed on as a sponsor. Wallflower Event Design provided a deep discount on stage setup costs in exchange for sponsorship. And the Pittsburgh Pirates, Penguins and Steelers continue to support Pride activities.<\/p>\n

\"\"Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, center, at the 2025 Pride Parade. Photo by Maya Lovro courtesy of QBurgh. <\/p>\n

\u201cShout out to the people of Pittsburgh who have helped by talking to their employers\u201d about providing support, Wasserman said. Fellow organizer Lyndsey Sickler, executive director of Proud Haven, also cited recent increased \u201cnegativity\u201d toward queer people as another reason for the difficulty this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like the guardrails have come off,\u201d they said. Despite backlash and budget problems, \u201cWe will always pull this off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organizers have faced roadblocks before: It\u2019s been six years since the Delta Foundation, a local LGBTQ nonprofit group, canceled Pride celebrations due to the pandemic, then abruptly shut its doors<\/a>. Delta, which had trademarked the name \u201cPittsburgh Pride,\u201d took over the march in 2008. In 2019, it became the EQT Equality March, after Delta sold naming rights to the corporation. This sparked People\u2019s Pride, an alternative community-driven march.<\/p>\n

Though Delta abandoned its claim to Pittsburgh Pride and closed in 2020, the foundation was still filing IRS tax forms as of 2024, the most recent year available online. The form states that the foundation is \u201cwinding down and has ceased its operations and its programs,\u201d but they report total assets of almost $172,000, of which $114,367 is cash on hand. Meggs Zammer, who had paid a deposit to hold a spot as a vendor at 2020 Pride, said she and others never received refunds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Martin Healey, listed as Delta\u2019s board president in the 2024 filing, is now CEO at Persad Center. Neither Healey nor Christine Bryan, Persad\u2019s communications director who also worked at Delta, responded to inquiries.<\/p>\n

\"\"Lyndsey Sickler, Pittsburgh Pride board member, stands in front of a rainbow
mural inside the QMNTY Center, a community support and services center located on Pittsburgh\u2019s North Side
on April 2. Photo by Hannah Frances Johansson | PMP Newsroom.<\/p>\n

Despite months of work behind them and more to come this week, both Sickler and Wasserman look forward to Pride 2026. In light of UPMC\u2019s recent decision to limit gender-confirmation surgery<\/a> to adults aged 19 and older, Sickler said they\u2019re especially pleased that representatives from the Gender Confirmation Center of San Francisco will have an information table at Allegheny Commons Park West. They\u2019ll answer questions and provide advice about confirmation surgery, Sickler said.<\/p>\n

Pride celebrations offer the chance \u201cto get together and feel safe, despite all of the aggression and opposition we face,\u201d they noted, and added a promise for the future: \u201cWe will always pull this off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Sheppard and Jeff Freedman, co-founders and operators of QBurgh, an online news site for the city\u2019s queer community, are members of the Pride planning group and longtime activists. Before the Delta Foundation took over the event, Freedman said, \u201cit was about showcasing our community and the resources we have available. Delta turned it into a festival, and now we\u2019re back to highlighting the resources we have and celebrating our queer community and allies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"QBurgh\u2019s Jeff Freedman acts as grand marshal for the 2025 Pittsburgh Pride Parade. Photo by Maya Lovro courtesy of QBurgh.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been absolutely incredible to see how welcoming nearly every part of our region has become,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cWe have a lot to do as far as (supporting) our friends of color and our trans brothers and sisters, but we\u2019ll keep fighting for the whole LGBTQ spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting that \u201cStonewall was a protest<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0 Sheppard said the Pittsburgh March and Parade \u201cis a concerted effort to maintain that protest aspect, but we still have a celebratory parade.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the Saturday evening concert lineup of Cain Culto, Chrissy Chlapecka and EMM, \u201cinstead of getting a C-list or B-list celebrity, we have artists with large TikTok followings,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cThat really appeals to a newer generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

This Sunday morning, as in other years, you\u2019ll find Sheppard and Freedman in the Strip District, lining up thousands of participants for the parade, which starts at noon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cI don\u2019t always get to see the parade, with everything going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

After 21 years of organizing, \u201cit never gets old, because of the energy,\u201d said Freedman. \u201cWe never see it, but we feel it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd everyone is encouraged to hop in and march,\u201d Sheppard added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Pride Group, a consortium of local organizations that produce the annual Pride celebration, has dealt with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[20892,73,75,74,72785,91924],"class_list":["post-209411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-lgbtqia","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-pride","tag-qburgh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}