Donald Thinnes, of Donny’s Place, a gay and leather bar that operated in the Polish Hill neighborhood ofPittsburgh for fifty years, from 1973 to 2022, died on January 20, 2024. In addition to being a social gathering place, Donny’s was the site of much of the first recruitment for the still ongoing Pitt Men's Study for HIV/AIDS. Donny was also a founding member of the Tavern Guild, the first gay business association in the country. We send our deep respect to Donny, and his Place, for a lifetime of dedication to gay Pittsburgh and beyond.

In the wake of his passing, multiple community members, from Polish Hill residents to queer and trans peopleand allies, are initiating the conversation to make Donny’s Place a testament to both transformative affordable housing and queer history in Pittsburgh. We want to make this happen with work from both housing and LGBTQIA+ advocates. We are gauging interest and support with this petition.

The whole property is about 3 acres and is located across the Herron Avenue Bridge from Liberty Avenue, at the border between Lawrenceville, the Strip District, and Polish Hill, and right across the street from a stop on the MLK East Busway. There is a developer, Laurel Communities, that wants to build market-rate townhomes at the site, that would each likely cost anywhere between $750,000 and over a million dollars. This does not honor the role Donny’s Place played in our city’s heart for half a century and is not what these neighborhoods, or what our queer and trans communities, need.

There is a way to possibly reshape this impending gentrification while also honoring the legacy of Donny’s Place as one of the first gay bars in the Pittsburgh area and one with a long and lasting presence.

First, we can nominate the building for historic status. The site likely meets the necessary criteria set by Pittsburgh’s Historic Review Commission, including:

• The building has been the site of significant historic activity, serving as one of the first sites in Pittsburgh’s gay bar community and acting as a hub of social activism and services.
• The building is associated with several luminaries of Pittsburgh’s gay bar community.
• The building has close association with significant cultural aspects of Pittsburgh’s queer community.

Historic nomination puts an immediate hold on demolition of the Donny’s Place building, and likely a pause on the prospective development. If the nomination is granted, then the building will have to be respected forever.

At the same time that a historic nomination is being made, we would approach Donny’s estate and the developer about what it would take to fairly compensate them for the property.

Any building project different than the market rate housing currently being proposed would involve raising funds and working with a non-profit organization that has experience both with working with stakeholder groups (like the local neighborhood and Pittsburgh’s LGBTQIA+ community) and property development, to make a community-driven development plan for the site that would honor the history of the Donny’s Place building and seize the opportunity to build affordable housing. The funds would likely come from large government funders, whose specific purpose is to fund projects like these.

Then, we can plan how to honor and preserve the history of the Donny’s Place building while also bringing a housing project forward with input from the various stakeholder groups. To give an idea of what is possible, the Philly queer and trans elder affordable building presents one model. There is also a similarly planned project in Oakland, Pittsburgh. We know there can’t be too many safe, affordable homes at this moment of critically scarce housing; we also welcome other ideas to advocate for at the site, which is centrally located and right next to the busway. 

If you are supportive of this idea of historic nomination and advocating for more community-driven development options, please sign this petition. If you want to be involved in the planning process of what happens next, or at least get updates, please provide your email. And if you want to share any ideas for how the land could be used, please include it in the “reason for signing” comment section.