Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ bar under fire for allowing blackface drag performance

An LGBTQ+ bar in Pittsburgh has come under fire after a performer went on stage in blackface during its open stage event.Blue Moon Bar hosts open stage events weekly, inviting local artists to perform for bar patrons. Last week, posts began circulating on social media of a drag participant performing in blackface during the September 23 showcase. See on Instagram Related: Pittsburgh police raid LGBTQ+ bar during drag show featuring Amanda Lepore“How this person was even allowed to step on stage wearing this is beyond me,” Pittsburgh drag artist Pineapple Honeydew wrote on Instagram. “This is actual disgusting, racist behavior being given a stage to perform and no one thinking twice about it.”Blue Moon Bar did not return a phone call request for comment from The Advocate on Thursday, and the performer who did blackface has not been publicly identified. In a Wednesday Facebook post, the bar’s management apologized and said that night’s show had two guest hosts who “somehow didn’t realize at the time what was happening.”“Whatever the intent, blackface is racist and harmful and it is never acceptable,” their post reads. “We are sorry that it happened in our bar.”In a subsequent post Wednesday evening, the bar’s management announced it was canceling this week’s open stage event, saying it had received “too many death threats.” Open stage events have been held at the bar on a recurring basis for 14 years, the post said.Related: In Democratic-led Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh hospital caves to Trump. Trans kids lose care for a decadeBlackface is the use of black makeup and racialized mannerisms to mock and misrepresent “the features and culture of African Americans, including their looks, language, dance, deportment and character,” according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.This racist practice is deeply rooted in the history of the United States, dating back to the 1830s, when white performers in New York bega