Student organizations call for expulsion of Pitt student who sent violent, racist threats
By Janine Faust and Jon Moss
July 5, 2019
Leaders of several Pitt student organizations sent a letter to Pitt administrators Friday morning calling for the expulsion of Ethan Kozak, a rising junior political science major, according to a tweet sent Friday afternoon.
Performers death drop at Rainbow Alliance drag show
By Neena Hagen, Senior Staff Writer
April 9, 2019
Friday night, a charismatic performer clad in a silver sequin dress danced and swirled her poofy brown wig to the booming music. The hundreds of audience members leapt to their feet to clap along, roaring when the performer landed the drag-show-staple death drop.
Pitt’s first big spring Pride is just around the corner
By Emily Wolfe, Assistant News Editor
March 29, 2019
“The LGBTQIA+ community on campus is enormous,” Tabitha Barnes said. “We wanted to make sure that Pride was something everyone could take part in...kind of using the resources that we have to make that happen.”
LGBTQ+ students, allies find home in LLC
By Neena Hagen, Staff Writer
January 7, 2019
Located on the 12th floor of Lothrop Hall is the newly developed Gender and Sexualtiy LLC. The community brings together students who are dedicated to supportive environments.
Drag queens and kings strut past boundaries
By Madeline Gavatorta | Staff Writer
April 9, 2018
Performers lip-synched, danced and seductively plucked money from people’s hands with their mouths while pop song remixes played in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room Friday evening. “Drag is about pushing boundaries,” the emcee for the first half of the night, drag queen Anne T. Christ, ...
Lance Bass in sync with LGBTQ+ community
By Sam Weber | For The Pitt News
April 4, 2018
When Lance Bass looks back on his time in NSYNC, he can’t help but laugh — both at his antics and the crowds often confused by them. “I found it funny,” Bass said. “Before anyone knew I was gay, I was just Lance from NSYNC and I just humped the stage a lot.” Bass, a 38-year-old mus...
Seeking out safe sex in the LGBTQ+ community
By Shahum Ajmal and Abigail Tesfay | Pitt News Staff
February 14, 2018
The average human being can only be so comfortable with openly discussing how to insert an internal condom, which is why organizations like the Rainbow Alliance come prepared with a prosthetic vagina. “You have to overcome that hurdle of talking about it at all in order to talk about safe sex prac...
Dear WBC: Hate doesn’t have a home here
By Sarah Shearer | For The Pitt News
October 4, 2017
It only takes reading a few sentences into the “about” page on the Westboro Baptist Church’s website to understand one thing: this is a group fueled by hate. The WBC is well known for its protesting tactics, picketing at events from military funerals, such as Sgt. Dillon Baldridge’s in No...
Pitt, Rainbow prep for Westboro protest
By Janine Faust | Assistant News Editor
October 4, 2017
With the Westboro Baptist Church planning to protest on Pitt’s campus Thursday, the University and campus organizations are preparing. The WBC is known for its hateful speech against the LGBTQ+ community, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Jews and American soldiers. According to its onlin...
Kings and queens captivate audience
By Nina Kneuer | For The Pitt News
September 17, 2017
A runway extended out from the William Pitt Union assembly room stage, lined with rainbow-colored Christmas lights and framed by chairs on either side. It was a setup fit for kings and queens — drag kings and queens, that is. The Office of First Year Experience and Pitt Rainbow Alliance presented Panther Dra...
Embracing Queer: Pitt’s LGBTQ+ Community
By Madeline Barber / Staff Writer
May 31, 2017
Queer pride is everywhere in Pittsburgh — Bloomfield storefronts sell queer-friendly merchandise, rainbow flags dance in the winds of Lawrenceville homes and banners adorned with local drag performers hang from streetlights Downtown, advertising the upcoming Pittsburgh Pride Festival. The queer co...
Wigging out: student drag show bends gender norms
By Jack Shelly / Staff Writer
September 18, 2015
Picture nearly 200 students crammed into Nordy’s Place singing along to Nikki Minaj’s “The Night Is Still Young” and cheering wildly for a drag queen sporting a wild blonde wig and denim jacket. That was the scene Thursday night at one of the Rainbow Alliance’s first events of the year,...