TWOC India Monroe Murdered on Dec 21 and We Just Found Out

India monroe trans

Less than 24 hours after learning about the first transgender person reported murdered this year comes word of a trans sister, India Monroe, who was murdered in December, but misgendered. From Mic.com A transgender Virginia resident known to friends as India Monroe was killed on Dec. 21 in Newport News, Virginia, though she was misgendered and […]

Thank You for Your Generosity These Past Months

I need to take a moment to simply thank you for all that you’ve done these past months. In November, I asked you to help us fund the #AMPLIFY tee shirts and you did. Then I asked you to donate gift cards and cookies to support LGBTQ elders through the PErsad SAGE projects. Then I […]

Mesha Caldwell of Mississippi is First Reported Trans Woman Killed in 2017

Mesha Caldwell Mississippi

Mesha was 41 years old, worked as a beautician and stylist in her hometown of Canton, Mississippi. According to her Facebook profile, Mesha had been a student at Jackson State University. Her friends describe her as stylish and someone who looked good in anything she wore. Her body was discovered at 3:45 PM along a […]

Inherited Trauma and Coping with Trump

CN: description of suicide, addiction, intergenerational trauma Obviously, I’m struggling to come to terms with the implications of Trump for our nation, especially the most vulnerable among us. One of the ways I manage my anxiety is by working on my family tree. It is similar to working a jigsaw puzzle, but more conducive to […]

Today, Let’s Celebrate 11 Years of PghLesbian Blogging!

Rick Santorum internship

I’ve pondered how to mark this occasion. Most blogs last 2-3 years, so 11 is numerically impressive. We’ve also started the AMPLIFY project archives which is a new direction for us. Then we had a complete blog redesign this year AND were voted Best Local Blog by the Pittsburgh City Paper. That’s a lot of […]

A Friend of Mine Lost Her 35 Year Old Son This Week, Please Help With Final Expenses

Randi tearfully told me about her fear that he was alone when he died. That’s a terrible heartache for her. No platitude can help, but we can show Randi that she is not alone now by helping her with this task of making final arrangements.

Thank You for Nominating Me for a CORO MLK Leadership Award

A Facebook friend shared an urgent request to find a winter coat for a young gay-identified female student in the Pittsburgh Public School system. Apparently, the school does not have an excess of coats right now. So I spent a few hours putting out the word and, eventually, a Northside neighbor (and new Facebook friend) named Michelle drove a brand new coat to my house around 9 PM. I took it to the high school Friday AM and handed it off to the teacher.

That’s the person I aspire to be – the person who people ask to help find a coat or addresses some other fundamental need. I really don’t want to be the fundraiser, public face or administrator. I never aspired to be an Executive Director (never, not ever, never never.) I just want to be a social worker/community organizer. It fits.

Mission Accomplished! Gift Card Drive for LGBTQ Elders a Success

Pittsburgh LGBT elders

Congrats, folks. Together, we collected more than $1,000 in gift cards to be distributed to the 9 LGBTQ elders in the SAGE program that we told you about last month. This is so wonderful – we successfully met two goals with the lovely holiday party yesterday (all of the cookies) and the gift cards news […]

UPDATED One Week Left to Donate Gift Cards for LGBTQ Elders #ReachOUT

Persad SAGE party

We met our goal in less than 24 hours after posting this recent update! Thank you, Pittsburgh! The headline is this – we still need gift cards for some of the LGBTQ elders connected to the SAGE project with Persad Center. They are all over 55 and have little to no family support so this […]

I am Brittle in My Anguish

I’ve been anxious my whole life long, but I haven’t always been afraid. There have been individual moments, of course, including my experiences with violence and assault. But what I feel now is different, dare I say more of an existential fear about my actual existence? I do not have much family. My parents and […]