Activist Richard Parsakian named Pittsburgh Pride Parade grand marshal

For Richard Parsakian, a queer activist and artist in Pittsburgh, Pride is a celebration.

“I feel like it’s an expression for us to acknowledge that we are still here — we are part of everybody’s life,” he said.

He’s been marching in the Pride parade for more than 25 years. This year, he will serve as its grand marshal.

Parsakian is “beyond honored.”

As a queer man, Parsakian, 75, of Shadyside, said he’s been trying to make a positive impact in Pittsburgh since he moved to the city in 1971.

And according to Tome’ Cousin, a professor of dance and the first Black full professor at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama, Parsakian has succeeded.

A ‘giver’

Cousin, 63, of Bloomfield, said he met Parsakian during the height of disco in 1979 at a club in Pittsburgh called 2001. More than 30 years later, Parsakian was the best man in Cousin’s wedding.

“He actually walked me down the aisle — he’s like a family member to me,” Cousin said.

For decades, Cousin said, Parsakian has been present in Pittsburgh’s gay community.

“He’s always been in the fabric of it — the protests, equal rights,” Cousin said.

Parsakian, who is Armenian, moved to Pittsburgh in 1971 as an architect through Volunteers in Service in America, or AmeriCorps VISTA, providing free architectural services to nonprofits and low-income families around the city. In 1972, he and a friend started Pittsburgh’s first queer newspaper, The Gay Times, which published two issues.

He helped a friend build out a space for a store in 1978, and decided to open his own in 1986 — called Eons Fashion Antique, a vintage clothing and accessories store in Shadyside.

“My store is more than a business; I call it a social experiment,” he said. “It becomes a place where I exchange ideas with friends and support artists in all aspects.”

According to Cousin, Eons has become a safe haven for Pittsburgh’s queer community, where customers can feel protected and not be judged.

“(Parsakian has) definitely changed the culture for sure,” he said. “You can find your outfit, your drag — who you want to be.”

Parsakian, who grew up in Albany, N.Y., said he walks to work every day because he prioritizes sustainability. Eons serves a client base of all ages, Parsakian said, and the store has seen more popularity amid the rise in vintage and sustainable fashion as trends.

Eons has become a resource for costumes in the film and TV industry, he said. Locally, Parsakian has done fashion benefits and shows at Pittsburgh landmarks like the Pittsburgh Opera and Andy Warhol Museum.

“I don’t like runway shows; I like shows that bring life so it’s more theatrical,” he said, emphasizing the importance of representation in models and dancers. “I’m sort of one of those accidental designers.”

Parsakian said he’s been called a “giver” in the past, which is a label he said he views as an honor.

“When a young artist comes in (to Eons Fashion Antique), and we have a conversation … I can’t give them a check, but maybe I can connect them with other people,” he said.

Cousin said he believes there wouldn’t have been as many advancements in Pittsburgh’s queer community without Parsakian.

“I will say that everyone who has connected in performing arts has somehow crossed paths with him and owes him in a big way,” Cousin said. “He’s also not afraid of speaking up.”

Pursuing activism

A lot of Parsakian’s activism is done through his art, such as costuming and events.

“I think when you open up what we’re all about to the straight world, then you sort of break down those barriers,” he said. “I do that through my everyday life — I do that through my store.”

Being the Pittsburgh Pride Parade grand marshal gives him a chance to have another platform, he said.

“I think it’s important that the general community outside the queer community understands why we’re fighting and what’s at stake,” Parsakian said.

Parsakian serves on the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council board of directors, which fights to get more funding for local arts, and the mayor’s LGBTQIA+ Commission in Pittsburgh.

“I’m not a loud, angry person,” Parsakian said. “I am very angry, but I try to find a practical way to make changes.”

His big wish is for everyone to get along, Parsakian said, and he would like to see more queer political representation in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Pride

To see so many people in the queer community in one place during Pittsburgh Pride is “huge,” Parsakian said.

The parade begins at noon, and the best viewing locations are along Liberty Avenue, Downtown, the Andy Warhol Bridge and West Commons, according to its website.

Parsakian is the creator of the 30-by-60-foot Pride flag that he’s marched in the parade with for more than 25 years.

Another friend of his, Joseph Hall, said he has viewed Parsakian as the “silent grand marshal” for many years now because of how instrumental he has been in being a leader behind the scenes.

“Through his platform, which is his store, he really has conversations with people about the political moment we’re in — what it means for LGBTQ folks,” said Hall, co-executive director of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater. “He brings the perspective of living (out) as a gay man for many years now.”

Especially for younger people, Pride can be a way to meet similar people, Parsakian said.

“The children need to know that they can come out and be themselves,” he said.

Parsakian said he’s going to use his one-and-a-half-minute speech as grand marshal to honor his friends. Many of their lives were lost during the AIDS crisis, and thinking about them can make him cry, he said.

“That’s why I march — for my friends that can’t be there.”