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Happy November, Pittsburgh!
The Halloween wigs are back on their stands, the last pieces of candy are mysteriously disappearing, and the calendar has flipped to a week that might feel a little heavier than usual.
Tomorrow is Election Day. And while we’re not going to pretend everyone is heading into Tuesday without a few butterflies, we do want to remind you of something important.
Our community is bigger than any one election.
It’s the people who fought for us decades ago. The people opening doors today. The performers making us laugh until our faces hurt. And the friends who show up when someone needs a hand.
It’s a whole lot of people choosing, again and again, to care for one another.
That’s what we’re celebrating this week.
We’ve got five Pittsburgh community leaders getting their flowers, a drag queen collecting another crown, and a beautiful reminder that queer Pittsburgh knows how to rally around its own.
Because whatever this week brings, we’re still here, we’re still queer, and we’re still making room for joy.
Let’s slay the week!
SLAY OF THE WEEK: Giving Flowers to the People Who Built Our Community
Every queer gathering place, every community organization, and every hard-won protection has a story behind it.
And usually, that story begins with someone deciding that LGBTQ+ people deserve better.
On Friday, November 13, the Pittsburgh Equality Center will celebrate five of those people at its second annual Pittsburgh Equality Gala, held at the Kamin Science Center on the North Shore.
This year’s theme, “A Home for the Next 50 Years,” is especially fitting. The honorees represent both the generations who helped build queer Pittsburgh and the people creating its future.
The evening will recognize:
- Kathi R. Boyle, receiving a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award for more than four decades of advocacy, from HIV/AIDS care and ballroom community support to LGBTQ+-inclusive senior housing. Her wife, Betty Hill, will accept the award.
- Kathleen D. Schneider, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award for decades of legal advocacy for LGBTQ+ families and individuals, alongside her contributions to Pittsburgh’s lesbian and feminist community.
- Rachel S. Shepherd, named Ally of the Year for her leadership at the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations and its work supporting civil rights protections.
- Samm and Aerin Adams-Fuchs, sharing the Community Members of the Year honor for creating The Soft Spot, Garfield’s sober, sapphic-centered gathering space where queer Pittsburghers can connect beyond the traditional bar scene.
What makes this group so special isn’t simply what they’ve accomplished individually. It’s how their work connects.
From helping LGBTQ+ people access healthcare and legal recognition to creating places where the next generation can gather, they’re all part of the same ongoing story.
Pittsburgh Equality Center Board President Ray Sidney-Smith summed it up beautifully:
“Every one of these honorees made room for someone who didn’t have a place.”
And isn’t that what community is all about?
Here’s to the people who opened doors, the people holding them open, and everyone making sure there’s room for whoever comes next.
Pittsburgh Equality Gala: Friday, November 13, at Kamin Science Center. VIP reception begins at 6 p.m.; general admission begins at 7 p.m.
COMMUNITY CARE IN ACTION: Let’s Show Up for Brianna
One of the things we love most about Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ+ community is how quickly people come together when someone needs support.
Right now, that love is being directed toward Brianna Serenity, a familiar face in our community who rides at the front of the Pittsburgh Pride parade every year.
After an October 24 house fire displaced Brianna and disrupted her home-based business, Brianna’s Mobile Workshop, friend and community leader Gage Ryder organized a GoFundMe to help her get back on her feet.
The fundraiser will help cover temporary housing, essential belongings, living expenses, and recovery costs as Brianna navigates the weeks ahead.
It’s a reminder that community care isn’t just something we talk about. It’s something we do.
Brianna has shown up for queer Pittsburgh. Now we have an opportunity to show up for her.
If you’re able to contribute, every donation helps. And if donating isn’t possible right now, sharing the fundraiser can help it reach someone who can.
Support Brianna’s recovery on GoFundMe
A little help from a lot of people can make a meaningful difference. That’s community in action.
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ELECTION DAY IS TOMORROW. MAKE YOUR PLAN!
Tuesday, November 3, is Election Day in Pennsylvania.
If you’re voting in person, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can find your polling place and other official voting information at vote.pa.gov.
If you’re voting by mail, remember that your completed ballot must be received by your county election office by 8 p.m. on November 3. A postmark alone doesn’t count.
And as we head into tomorrow, we want to leave you with something that matters just as much as the reminders and deadlines.
Whatever the results, queer Pittsburgh will still be here on Wednesday.
We’ll still be creating art. We’ll still be building community spaces. We’ll still be celebrating our people, supporting our neighbors, and finding reasons to laugh.
The work of caring for each other doesn’t begin or end on Election Day.
And neither does our joy.
Queer Joy in the World: Andi Whorehol Is Having a Crowning Moment!
Some queens serve looks. Some queens serve laughs. Andi Whorehol is serving both, and apparently she needs more shelf space for crowns.
Pittsburgh’s drag entertainers brought their wildest jokes, biggest wigs, and most gloriously ridiculous performances to Arcade Comedy Theatre for the Miss City of Bridges Comedy Queen 2027 pageant.
And when the laughter finally died down, Andi Whorehol had snatched the crown!
Hosted by Pittsburgh drag legend Dixie Surewood and produced by Leia Way LeStat, the evening was a celebration of everything we love about drag: creativity, camp, unapologetic self-expression, and the ability to make an entire room absolutely lose it.
Andi’s victory earns her the opportunity to represent Pittsburgh at the National Miss Comedy Queen pageant in Orlando.
But here’s what makes this win even sweeter: Andi is already having quite the year.
Back in February, she made history by winning Miss Blue Moon 2026, becoming the first cisgender lesbian to hold a major Pittsburgh drag bar title. That victory was a powerful moment for representation in a drag community that keeps finding new ways to expand who gets to shine.
Now she’s adding comedy royalty to her résumé.
From breaking barriers to breaking audiences into laughter, Andi is proving that there’s no single way to be a drag superstar.
Congratulations, Andi! Pittsburgh is rooting for you, and Orlando had better be ready.
There’s a thread connecting every story in this week’s Slay Weekly.
Kathi Boyle, Kathleen Schneider, Rachel Shepherd, and Samm and Aerin Adams-Fuchs remind us that the community we love exists because people kept showing up to build it.
Andi Whorehol reminds us that making people laugh, breaking barriers, and being gloriously yourself are their own kinds of gifts to the world.
And the people rallying around Brianna remind us that when life gets difficult, showing up for one another can make all the difference.
None of those things happens just once. Community is something we choose to create, over and over again.
So this week, check in on somebody. Celebrate someone’s success. Help a neighbor if you can. Make a plan to vote. And give yourself permission to find a little joy, even when the world feels uncertain.
Because our joy isn’t dependent on everything going perfectly. It lives in the people who refuse to stop caring for each other.
Whatever Tuesday brings, Pittsburgh, remember this: We’re still here. We’re still queer. And we’re still showing up for each other.
Have a beautiful week, Pittsburgh.
Stay queer. Stay connected. Keep slaying.
Talk soon.
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