Q&A with Abigail Salisbury, Candidate for PA State House District 34

Abigail Salisbury

I was excited to see Governor Shapiro take office and announce that he would keep a kosher kitchen in the Governor’s Mansion.  Most of the time, Jewish observances are mysterious and holidays are sort of an “also-ran,” just mentioned in passing when they have some relationship in time with Christian holidays, and people don’t really […]

Q&A with Rachael Heisler, Candidate for Pittsburgh City Controller

Rachael Heisler

In 1998, the city was in such a bad place fiscally that we needed to issue bonds to make our pension payments. We will make our final payment on that in 2025. We have to look ahead, maintain a healthy fund balance (also known as a “rainy day fund”), and make sure that our fiscal […]

It is Time for Campaign Q&A’s for the 2023 Primary Election

Political Q&A

Each election cycle, our blog publishes Q&A’s with candidates for elected office. You can see previous Q&A’s at this link. Candidates can be anywhere in Pennsylvania running for any level of office. Please note that these are not necessarily endorsements, more of an opportunity for candidates to connect with the LGBTQ community, progressive neighbors, and […]

Extreme Right Wingers Target Pittsburgh ‘Donuts and Drag’ Campaign Event

It is not going to stop …. Rachael Heisler is running for the office of City Controller. She currently serves as deputy Controller in that office. A friend of Heisler’s offered to coordinate one of her campaign kick-off events a ‘Donuts and Drag’ morning event with donuts and a drag artist performing holiday tunes. The […]

US Senate to Vote on Respect for Marriage Act – Call Today

lesbian wedding

Today, the United States Senate may hold a procedural vote to forward the process of passing the ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ – federal recognition of marriage equality. The Respect for Marriage Act, abbreviated as RFMA (H.R. 8404, S. 4556), is a bill in the United States Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and require the U.S. federal government to recognize the validity […]

LGBTQ Electoral Victories in Pennsylvania

According to the Victory Fund,  at least 1,065 out LGBTQ people ran for office in the November midterm elections. At least 340 out LGBTQ won their races as of November 9, 2022 with more results yet to come in.  In Pennsylvania Jessica Benham, State Representative in Pennsylvania House District 36 and the first openly queer woman […]

I Don’t Mind Political Ads

As a regular viewer of local news on TV, I see a lot of commercials – mostly for furniture, AC/duct/windows/bathroom installers, and assorted dubious medical hucksters. Obviously, most of the ads lately are tied to campaigns. People complain about them. I don’t. It’s irritating, yes, but until we get real campaign reform – it’s a […]

Billy Porter and Rashad Robinson, President of Color of Change, discuss the power of the Black and queer vote and how to motivate LGBTQ voters to the polls.

Billy Porter Rashad Robinson

Billy Porter: What do you say to black and queer voters who turned out in 2020 and feel like they didn’t get what they wanted?  Rashad Robinson: Part of activism is trying to push things as far as we can absolutely go, but when we get there, recognizing that we’ve gotten there. The $10,000 and […]

My Essay About Voting

Day two of #NaBloPoMo This feels mandatory, a reminder to all of you about why you must vote and vote Blue in the elections next week. I like to think that anyone reading my blog would be familiar with these issues and already a regular voter. But since I don’t actually know most of you, […]

PA Senate Debate: Dr. Oz Says Abortion Decisions Should Be Between”a Woman, her Doctor, and Local Political Leaders”

“I don’t want the federal government involved with that at all. I want women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that’s always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves.” Dr. Mehmet Oz