Social Justice Actions Near Pittsburgh: May 8, 2025 ** New Feature

Welcome to week 2 of our latest feature! There’s so much going on that sometimes it feels overwhelming to find the details, sift through the logistics, roll up your sleeves and get involved. Volunteers with local Indivisible chapters and other froups work regularly to compile and distribute each week as do other organizers. I am not identifying […]

LGBTQ Media Reporting on Bar Raids, Anti-Trans Violence Reveals Systemic Weakness

Kelsey

On April 24, 2025, a 25 year old Black trans woman named Kelsey Elem was brutally murdered in St. Louis, Missouri. Local media reported on her death, as they do. I wrote a memorial post. And … Where is the LGBTQ media? Young Black trans woman brutally murdered. 20 minutes away from the location where […]

Review: ‘Come From Away’ Changed My Relationship to Musicals

Here’s a review secret – I don’t love musicals. I grew up immersed in the old-school classics that my mother watched, they hold a special place in the nostalgia corner of my heart. But the tendency to convert everything that moves into a musical – Disney, children’s books, movies – has left me skeptical of […]

25 year old Black trans woman fatally shot by boyfriend in St. Louis

Kelsey

Her name was Kelsey Elem. She was 25 years old when her boyfriend killed her after an argument. They both lived in St. Louis. St. Louis County Police reported an altercation broke out in the 5800 block of Grace Avenue between Kelsey and her partner, Martino Lewis. Reportedly, an eyewitness overheard an argument. Elem’s family […]

Social Justice Actions Near Pittsburgh: May 1, 2025 <– New Feature

There’s so much going on that sometimes it feels overwhelming to find the details, sift through the logistics, roll up your sleeves and get involved. Volunteers with local Indivisible chapters and other froups work regularly to compile and distribute each week as do other organizers. I am not identifying those folx by name to give […]

Review: Intersectional Adaptation of ‘Miss Julie’ Stirs the Pot in Pittsburgh

Spoilerish, reference to animal cruelty Some of you are familiar with the play Miss Julie from traditional interpretations of August Strindberg’s 1888 play. Others may remember the storyline in the television show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel where character actor Sophie Lenon decides to stage an ultimately disastrous version. The latter is how I first encountered […]

Never Any Extra Food, Never Enough Food – When the Pet Food Pantry Says No

kitchen shelves with bgs and cartos of cat food

The Dr. John P. Ruffing VMD Pet Food Pantry team spent the weekend packing up non-food donations like beds, trees, bowls, towels, blankets, and so forth. That’s when we realized something problematic – we are going to run out of food at the end of May. We know you came through for us in February […]

My First Earth Day was in 1990

It was 1990. I was a college sophomore in Northern Virginia, learning about environmental issues from my friend, George Neighbors. Earth Day was my first activist event. The week before, George took a group of us out with wheat paste to flyer Alexandria also known as Old Towne. It was pretty tame, but it felt […]

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Pittsburgh Blogger Sue Kerr Has Been Named to Curve Magazine’s 2025 ‘Power List’ in Honor of Lesbian Visibility Week

I am honored to be named to the 2025 ‘Power List’ to kick-off Lesbian Visibility Week. Thank you to the Curve Foundation for this honor and the chance to highlight important issues. “[T]hese individuals are breaking barriers, challenging norms, and leaving an indelible mark on our community and beyond. It is essential for us to […]