84 Trans Stories from Western Pennsylvania on the Trans Day of Visibility

Transgender Awareness Week

March 31 is the International Transgender Day of Visibility, devoted to raising the visibility of transgender and gender nonconforming (GNC) neighbors both in terms of their resiliency and successes as well as the realities of transphobic bias and violence. I’ve curated 84 stories from our #AMPLIFY project to illustrate the multi-faceted experiences of transgender neighbors […]

Lexi, 33, was a Black Trans Woman Murdered in Harlem

I don’t have many details about the life of Lexi “Ebony” Sutton. She was 33. She has friends who mourn her. I’m not sure if Ebony was a nickname, a house affiliation, etc. There are far too many details about the horrific murder that took her life in Harlem in the early hours of Saturday […]

How to Keep House During a Pandemic: Sanity v Sanitization

How to clean during a pandemic

When this began, we had on hand the following:  two bottles of bleach, six bottles of white vinegar, four bottles of Murphys Oil Soap, rags, spray bottles, and half a refill bottle of hand soap. We also had about eight rolls of paper towels, a package of napkins, and lots of rags. After week one, […]

New #ThingsToDo: a List from Emmi, Age 9

New Things To Do Project

Total Lists Submitted: 7 Total Amount Raised for Food Pantry: $70.00 This is our new project #ThingsToDo where we invite youth to create and share a list of things to occupy time and cope with boredom. You’ll fine the details at this link. Your young people are welcome to participate. Here’s the cool thing – in addition to creating […]

New #ThingsToDo: a List by Maggie, Age 11

New Things To Do Project

Total Lists Submitted: 6 Total Amount Raised for Food Pantry: $60.00 This is our new project #ThingsToDo where we invite youth to create and share a list of things to occupy time and cope with boredom. You’ll fine the details at this link. Your young people are welcome to participate. Here’s the cool thing – in addition to creating […]

Daily Dose of #QuarantineCats Sunday March 29, 2020

Pittsburgh Cats and Dogs

These are difficult times. Our crew wants to help so I’m going to try to regularly post brief video snippets from the assorted four-footed residents of our house including our pets, fosters, the ferals, our dog, and occasional guests. Today’s clip features our feral kitties, Oksana (gray and white) and Mx Pajamas (black) on our […]

Daily Dose of #QuarantineCats Saturday March 28, 2020

Pittsburgh Cats and Dogs

These are difficult times. Our crew wants to help so I’m going to try to regularly post brief video snippets from the assorted four-footed residents of our house including our pets, fosters, the ferals, our dog, and occasional guests. Today we again feature Maisel who seems to love the camera. She’s lying on this fleece/fur […]

Daily Does of #QuarantineCats Friday, March 27, 2020

Pittsburgh Cats and Dogs

These are difficult times. Our crew wants to help so I’m going to try to regularly post brief video snippets from the assorted four-footed residents of our house including our pets, fosters, the ferals, our dog, and occasional guests. Today’s clip features five-month-old Maisel who has discovered birdwatching! You can watch her wriggle with excitement […]

Q&A with Matt Merriman-Preston About the Pennsylvania Primary Election, Mail-In Ballots, and More

This is a very confusing time. We spend hours trying to find toilet paper and disinfectant, worrying about access to critical medications that are being redirected to maybe cure COVID-19, and having our evening news interrupted by a ridiculous puppet President who lies and misleads us every single fucking day. One point of confusion is […]

My Friend Was Admitted to ICU for COVID-19 Testing; She Found a Simple Way to Make It Easier for Health Care Staff

Cell Phones in ICU Covid-19

My lifelong friend, A, is a 49-year-old, white woman with a 16-year-old daughter. She grew up in Pittsburgh, earned a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry and graduated from the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine. She worked until she was fully disabled in 2011 by chronic health problems. She had to turn in her medical license, […]