Deprecated: mb_convert_encoding(): Handling HTML entities via mbstring is deprecated; use htmlspecialchars, htmlentities, or mb_encode_numericentity/mb_decode_numericentity instead in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/super-cool-ad-inserter/inc/scaip-shortcode-inserter.php on line 37
Harold’s Haunt announced it will soon double as a wedding venue for couples seeking to marry before Donald Trump takes office.
The “haunted they bar” and Millvale-based LGBTQ community space — which recently celebrated its second anniversary — will be “decked out” for ceremonies in January for those “wanting to elope real quick” ahead of Trump’s second inauguration. Owner Athena Flint and Harold’s community members Ringa Sunn and Maura McManus, who also manages the queer witch shop Maude’s Paperwing Gallery, will be on hand to witness weddings and officiate ceremonies as ordained ministers.
Flint tells Pittsburgh City Paper that the bar will host an “emergency elopement” for two patrons at the end of December and decided to expand services for others. They will leave the elopement’s wedding decor up for the following weeks and “offer the space to folx who are rushing to get married.”
“Our community has been doing a lot of panicking and grieving since the election,” Flint wrote to City Paper. The first Trump presidency curtailed anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBTQ people, and the right to marriage equality could come under attack, in addition to further rollbacks proposed in his Project 2025 transition plan.
“There will be so much work to do over the next four years for us to survive,” Flint says. “We are dedicated to doing the work AND also dedicated to keep being just a little silly while we do.”
Flint says Harold’s marriage ceremonies are “open to all” couples, witnessing will be free, and officiating comes with a suggested donation amount. Flint emphasizes that the donation is only suggested and everyone is welcome.
Flint, Sunn, and McManus officially became ordained ministers through the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The satirical religious movement arose in 2005 from a letter protesting the teaching of intelligent design. Millennials might remember the Church’s deity, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, and his “noodly appendages,” as a ubiquitous meme of the 2000s internet.
Flint says the silliness “seemed fitting,” with Harold’s posting “this is a joke but also we are completely serious” as part of its wedding ceremony announcement on Instagram.
Speaking to CP about the bar’s anniversary in October, Flint also revealed it had previously served as a same-sex wedding venue. Harold’s occupies the former neighborhood bar Howard’s, where bartender Patty, a lesbian, held her ceremony on its back patio. Patty went on to advocate for LGBTQ rights and help launch the inaugural Pride Millvale celebration.
The bar’s reputation as “a very safe space” partially inspired Flint to buy it in 2021.
“Joy is revolutionary,” Flint tells CP. “We will not let fear keep us from being silly little guys that support our beautiful community of queers and witches.”
This article appears in Nov 13-19, 2024.
