Suzanne, 39, never felt that honoring her orientation was even an option #AMPLIFY

female bisexual Pittsburgh

  Name: Suzanne Age: 39 County of Residence: Allegheny, but grew up in Armstrong County. Northern Armstrong County bordering Clarion and Butler counties, different parts of Allegheny County, and Mexico City Pronouns: she/her/hers How do you describe your identity? female bi-ish lesbian Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I consider that I […]

Ten Years Later: Attending the First LGBTQ Bloggers & Citizen Journalists National Summit in 2008

Sue Kerr

While I began blogging in December 2005, I believe that a significant milestone in our growth was the weekend Ledcat and I traveled to Washington D.C. for the first LGBTQ Bloggers and Citizens Journalists National Summit. It was December 5-7, 2008. I met a lot of folx there and my mind was awhirl with new […]

Q&A: For Joe Wos, mazes are the oldest form of interactive gaming, discusses new book of American state themed mazes

Joe Wos Maze Toons

Name: Joe Wos Pronouns: He, Him, and Hey You! How do you describe your identity? Of all the things that define my identity, in many ways gender is low on the list for me personally. My identity is most defined by what I do. I am a cartoonist, maze artist and storyteller. Even when people describe […]

The New Norm for Bloggers?

So this is almost the new norm for queer bloggers (and perhaps others as well?) I share original content on social media sites. Someone takes the time to set up a fake Reddit account and send me the attached message privately “Kill yourself you fucking disgusting flaming faggot” This is tied to an #AMPLIFY post. Just daring […]

Find Joy Together Saturday Night with Renaissance City Choir

  Find holiday joy with Renaissance City Choir this Saturday! Get tickets now at http://rccholiday2018.bpt.me We find joy in being together as a loving community. This concert will feature Gloria by John Rutter, a piece composed for brass, percussion, organ, and choir. RCC will be joined by members of the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra to share this piece with our audience community. […]

A Green Christmas (Inflatable) Tree for Ledcat

Neon Christmas Tree Pittsburgh

So up high on the hill in Elliott is a 22 foot high neon green Christmas tree. It goes up on Light Up Night and down after New Years. Best view is from the West End Bridge, but we can see it from our house, too. Read a blurb about it from 1999 and another from 2002. 

It was originally owned by Fred Niepp, a second generation neon maker. When he closed his Downtown shop and bought the house in Elliot, he took it up with him. He sold the house  and the new occupants continues the tradition of erecting the tree each year.

Ledcat looks forward to this each year – on Light Up Night, she peeks out the second floor window as soon as it is dark and says “There’s my tree!” She looks every night and is genuinely sad when the tree goes dark for the year – that the end of Christmastime for her.

Leo, 24, Fears the Erasure of Nonbinary/Bisexual/Pansexual/Asexual/Demi Narratives in the Queer Community #AMPLIFY

  Nonbinary people are starting to have a voice here but the amount of times I’ve had the pronouns are important conversation with a cis gay man who tells me “well that just wasn’t in my time, you were either gay or you weren’t and there wasn’t in between” is too many times. Name: Leo Age: 24 […]

Review: A Christmas Carol at Carnegie Stage Gets Dickens Right

Spoiler – this adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic gets everything right about the systemic and institutional issues Dickens addressed without the sentimental Christmas washing we are usually handed. The playwrights here understand, as I like to say, that it wasn’t so much that Scrooge’s change of heart saved Tiny Tim as that fair wages, […]

Q&A: The Golden Gays NYC Bring “Thank Yule for Being a Friend” Show To Pittsburgh

Last week, I was tagged in a tweet informing me that I would make a great #Token Sophia. The tweeter was channeling Bea Arthur so I understood the Sophia reference if not the rest … @PghLesbian24 Sue! I think you would make a great #TokenSophia. https://t.co/LnRxkbsc40 — BeaArthur:AstralDame (@BeaAstralDame) November 29, 2018 Lo and behold, […]

A Black Trans Woman Known as Tydie is 23rd Trans Person Murdered in 2018

Tydie Trans Woman Baltimore

A Black trans woman known as Tydie was murdered in Baltimore on Monday, November 26. She is the 23rd transgender person to be murdered in the United States during 2018. Note that in some spaces her name is styled Tydi, but we are using the spelling offered by the trans community in Baltimore. From the […]