In an announcement today that came as a surprise to no one who was paying attention during the Covid-19 pandemic, today the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh announced that Pittsburgh Pride 2020 was officially cancelled.
Pittsburgh Pride 2020 was originally schedule to take place at Point State Park in July, inexplicably not in June during Pride month. Earlier this year Delta announced that Pittsburgh Pride would be postponed until the fall season while dozens of Prides around the world were cancelled and all local Pittsburgh large scale events were also cancelled.
Additionally, the Foundation announced that it had concluded its internal investigation into its former president Gary Van Horn and had turned that information over to the District Attorney of Allegheny County’s Office.
Delta Foundation also coupled these announcements with an announcement of new leadership in the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Noticeably absent was any announcement regarding their diversity and inclusion plan previously outlined in July.
Delta’s full statement:
The Board of Directors of the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh, a non-profit organization serving the region’s LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community, announced the following:
Pittsburgh Pride Takes Hiatus
The Board has announced the official hiatus of the in-person Pittsburgh Pride 2020 event. The event, originally scheduled for July 17-19, was postponed last Spring due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Marty Healey, Chair of Pittsburgh Pride 2020, “The continued moratorium of large-
scale special events as a result of Covid-19 will unfortunately prevent us from coming together this year to celebrate Pride in the traditional way. As Pride is something that lives with our hearts 365 days a year, we are choosing to announce the hiatus of the in-person event but nothing can cancel the Pride and spirit that the LGBTQ equality movement embodies.”
“We are most grateful for the continued support and patience from our corporate, city, county and state partners as we have worked through the details which has led to this important decision. We envision forming a new Pride committee consisting of community members and representatives from LGBTQ-friendly organizations and are excited to re-imagine what Pittsburgh Pride 2021 is going to look like.” It is estimated that more than 500 in-person Pride events around the world will not be held in 2020.
Internal Review Concluded
The review into the Foundation’s prior year activities and compliance, led by law firm Leech
Tishman, has been completed. This was requested by the Board following the resignation of Gary Van Horn from the Foundation. The matter has been referred to the Allegheny County District Attorney for further review.
Board Leadership Changes
An election was held to name the Foundation’s new Executive Committee to include Marty Healey (President), Jon Holmes (Vice President), Eddie McAndrews (Secretary), and Chuck Honse (Treasurer). Other board members include Jeff Freedman, Patrick Journet, Chuck Lukehart, Jim Sheppard, Dena Stanley, and Donny Thinnes.
