Iggy Azalea May Ruin Pittsburgh's Pride Because She's Iggy Azalea

As if releasing a questionable duet with Britney Spears last week wasn’t enough, Iggy Azalea is now threatening to ruin Pittsburgh’s Pride In The Street celebration on June 13.

The Aussie is the festival’s headliner, but many Pride attendees see Azalea—who’s clearly stated that she’d like to steal black culture, sell it and people better “get used to this”—as far from what they had in mind for an event inspired by a lesbian and two trans women of color who kicked off the Stonewall Riots. According to the Pittsburgh City Paper, people have taken to Facebook to voice their concerns over racism and homophobia in the performer’s tweets and lyrics, and to decry her inclusion through the Delta Foundation, who booked her act:

“The Iggy Azalea thing was just a last straw for folks,” says Michael David Battle, founder of the Garden of Peace Project, a local organization that often works with the most vulnerable LGBT people. “Since Delta took [Pride] over, it’s been a white, cis, gay man’s event.

“It goes back to the root of pride and how pride was started — by two trans women of color who were retaliating against police violence,” Battle says of the Stonewall riots. “That type of rebellion of trans women of color is something that has to be celebrated and honored” — something he says Delta has never done.

Delta Foundation is a local Pennsylvania LGBT non-profit organization begun in 1996 with the purpose of “uniting and fostering good fellowship and social interaction among LGBT residents in the metropolitan Pittsburgh area,” according to their website. For their side, the Delta Foundation released this statement to PCP:

If we believed that Iggy Azalea was racist or homophobic, we certainly would not have selected her to headline Pittsburgh Pride. We also don’t believe she would have agreed to come if she was racist or homophobic. Iggy is a highly regarded artist and female entertainer and we have received a tremendous amount of positive messages from members of the community and our allies both locally and nationally that are excited that she will be performing at Pittsburgh Pride.

We believe that the push back is part of a larger discussion happening across America as it relates to race and gender. We believe that same conversation needs to happen here in Pittsburgh and today reached out to several community leaders about facilitating a discussion about race and gender specifically as it relates to the LGBT community. We look forward to being a part of this conversation in the very near future as we work to make Pittsburgh the most livable city for all.