Sue is the founder of Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents blog, established in 2005.. She has an MSW from the University in Pittsburgh and a BA in Political Science from Marymount University. Her undergraduate claim to fame is a six month stint as an intern with then Congressman Rick Santorum in 1991. Born and raised in West Mifflin, Sue attended college in Washington DC, then graduate school in Louisiana and ended up in Kentucky doing social service ministry. She returned to Pittsburgh in 1997. She now lives on Pittsburgh’s Northside with her wife, Laura. She was among the first out LGBTQ people named to Pittsburgh’s 40 Under 40 in 2004 and is a graduate of Leadership Development Initiative Class VII. After being fully and permanently disabled in 2010, Sue has continued to serve the community. She founded the Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project to address hunger and environmental issues. In 2015, she launched the #AMPLIFY LGBTQ archive in conjunction with a two-year artist in residence stint with Most Wanted Fine Art. Sue and her wife have fostered over 25 kittens through Pittsburgh CAT and Homeless Cat Management Team, and now manage multiple community cat colonies in their neighborhood. In 2020, Sue cofounded the Pittsburgh MasQUe ProjecT to support the queer and trans community during the pandemic, distributing tens of thousands of face masks and other supplies throughout the region. In 2021, Sue created the #PghCatFolx projects to support neighbors working with community cats. Under that heading came the Dr. John P. Ruffing DVM Pet Food Projects, memorializing one of her very best friends who died in 2007. In 2021, Sue worked with community leaders to develop and establish a 501c3 nonprofit organization, Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities (PLC) where she currently serves as Board President. PLC absorbed the #PghCatFolx projects. Also in 2021, Sue was the first person in history appointed to the City of Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ Commission and was unanimously elected as one of three inaugural co-chairs. Her blogging has garnered numerous awards Favorite GLBT Media Publication - 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 (Keystone Alliance Gaylife Newsletter Reader’s Poll) Favorite GLBT Social Media - 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 (Keystone Alliance Gaylife Newsletter Reader’s Poll) Best Local Blogger - 2016, 2019 (Pittsburgh City Paper Reader’s Poll) LGBTQIA Pittsburgh’s Best Blogger - 2020 (SisTersPgh, People’s Pride of Pittsburgh) Outstanding Blog - 2019, 2022 (GLAAD Media Awards) Sue has also personally been honored Person of the Year - The Advocate Magazine, 2022 15 Lesbian Icons - LGBTQ Nation, 2023 LGBTQIA Pittsburgh’s Best Lesbian Activist - SisTersPgh, People’s Pride of Pittsburgh 2022 Sue believes in identifying and filling gaps in supports & services rather than recreating the wheel. She uses both her undergraduate and graduate degrees on a regular basis as a blogger and activist and regularly circulates her 1991 internship photo just to shake things up on her social media feeds. Her own experiences with cPTSD, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and other health challenges have fueled her health blogging and activism. She also writes extensively about her family history, drawing on her amateur genealogy hobby. The blog regularly reviews arts and cultural events as well as exploring restaurants, soap opera storylines, and hyper-local news. Sue and her wife Laura have been together since 2003. They were married on a very cold February 2, 2021 in their backyard at a very small ceremony co-officiated by their pagan priestess friend, Anne, and then-Mayor Bill Peduto. They have six niblings, four in Pittsburgh and two in Philadelphia.

Proud to be the Official Social Media Sponsor for the ReelQ Film 2019 Events

Social Media Sponsor Pittsburgh Events

I’m very pleased that our blog will be the Official Social Media Sponsor for the 2019 ReelQ events. We’ve worked with ReelQ in the past and have a marvelous appreciation for their important work. Our collaboration will include film previews, our unique Q&A’s, and lots of other surprises. And if you are interested into tapping […]

Anxiety Ruined My Chance To Meet Damon Young

Damon Young

It’s a beautiful sunny spring day here in Pittsburgh. Chilly, but I can get away with leggings and a light cardigan. I’m  sitting in the parking lot of my therapist’s office, listening to the oldies station and trying to soak up some sunshine – to feel some fragment of joy. I feel only misery. Yes, […]

bee Revisits 60+ Years of Her Feminist Lesbian Experiences in Pittsburgh #AMPLIFY

Allegheny County LGBTQ

Name: bee Age: 60 County of Residence: Allegheny County Pronouns: She/Her How do you describe your identity? I’m a lesbian feminist. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I came home from a day in the First Grade and announced that I wanted to marry my teacher (a nun) and kiss […]

Q&A with the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) Pittsburgh Chapter About Stigmatization, Support, and Safety

Content Note: sexual violence, erasure, sex shaming, criminal justice Last month, I shared a link on my social media channels to an article that I mistakenly thought was lifting up the voices of Women of Color around sex trafficking. I was called out on the link by several people and realized that I had fallen […]

UPDATED Ashanti Carmon is 2nd Black Trans Woman Murdered in 2019

Ashanti Carmon was 27 years old when she was shot to death Saturday, March 30 in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Details are unconfirmed. I’ve updated her age and details of relationship status based on reporting from The Washington Blade. There are no updates from the investigation. Check out @TransEquality’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/TransEquality/status/1112357749604651008?s=09 Fairmount Heights police said they […]

Not Enough Lesbian Content (h/t Hannah Gadsby)

Not Lesbian enough

One of our spokespeople last year… Self-appointed. One of our spokespeople approached me straight after one of my shows to give me a bit of feedback, and that’s my favorite time for feedback. Straight after a show? Yes, please! That is when my skin is at its thickest. The feedback? Apparently, she said, “I was […]

Celebrating #TDOV with 64 Trans Stories from Western Pennsylvania

Transgender Day of Visibility Pennsylvania

In honor of the Day of Trans Visibility, here are 64 stories from neighbors who live in Pittsburgh, Erie, Johnstown, Greensburg, New Castle, Bradford and beyond. These stories have been curated from the #AMPLIFY archive which has 290 stories total to date. Some are in their early 20s while others are closer to 60. Some […]

ReelQ and City of Asylum To Screen Documentary in Honor of Trans Day of Visibility

  In honor of Trans Day of Visibility, ReelQ presents a screening of “Where is my Refuge,” episode 4 of the award-winning Sundance documentary series America in Transition. This screening will be followed by a Skype discussion and Q&A lead by the subject of the documentary episode, Nina Chaubal. Sunday from 2-4 PM America in […]

John Placek Responds to Termination of His Sunoco Franchise “I Will Not Give In”

Billboards Worthington Armstrong County

I’m quite glad the mainstream media is running with the story about the racist billboards in Worthington, Armstrong County because I can no longer keep up with the unfolding story. As we reported earlier, Sunoco terminated contracts with Placek’s gas station on Route 422 and took steps today to remove their branding from the business. […]

Pete Buttigieg Needs to Acknowledge the Harm Caused by Chick-fil-A

So wunder candidate Pete Buttigieg has stumbled into a quagmire.  Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said he does not approve of Chick-fil-A’s politics, but “kind of” approves of its chicken. “Maybe if nothing else, I can build that bridge,” the openly gay 2020 presidential hopeful said on the syndicated radio show, “The Breakfast […]