Santa Claws Magic for Barbara, 80, Oakland

Adopt a Family Christmas

For the holidays, we are asking you to adopt a community cat caretaker to thank them for their year round work. Barbara is an 80-year-pld caretaker who has been taking care of Oakland cats for 10+ years. The colony started when someone dumped their friendly cats outside hear home and they started reproducing. Now there […]

Santa Claws Magic for Al and Karen in West Mifflin

For the holidays, we are asking you to adopt a community cat caretaker to thank them for their year round work. Al and Karen are retirees living in West Mifflin. They are in their early 70’s. Over the years, they have TNVRd eight cats out of their own pocket. Currently, their colony has five cats. […]

Political LGBTQ&A with Sean Strub, Mayor of Milford

Sean Strub Mayor of Milford

That has always stuck with me, this idea that we as queer people have a special role to play in society and, quite frankly, society needs us today more than ever before. A few days after Election Day 2021, the Victory Fund released a list of known out  LGBTQ  candidates who won their offices. They […]

What a local Black trans woman has taught me about the Trans Day of Remembrance

People often ask me, especially around this time of year, why I write blog posts memorializing neighbors who have been killed by the anti-trans terror in our nation. That is actually the wrong question and I’m not the person to ask. Instead we should ask why mainstream media outlets are not creating the same content. […]

Black Trans Woman Danyale Johnson, 35, Killed in Memphis

On the literal eve of the Trans Day of Remembrance comes word of another loss, the 48th trans neighbor swept up in the campaign of terror acknowledged on TDoR. A 35-year-old Black trans woman was killed by gunshot on Sunday, November 7 in Memphis, Tennessee. Danyale Johnson was found in a parking lot around 1 […]

Review: The Donna Summer Musical Brings Nostalgia, Joy, and Empowering Music to The Benedum

Donna Summer Musical Review

Go see the show—if you’re like me, it will leave you nostalgic, teary-eyed and joyous all at one. On Tuesday night, November 16, 2021, my friend, Sara P and I went to see “Summer, The Donna Summer Musical.” It was the first time that I had been to a musical, and the Benedum, since March […]

Black Trans Woman Angel Naira, 36, Killed in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania

Angel Naira Transgender

UPDATED On the cusp of the 2021 Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR), Western Pennsylvania has lost a fourth trans person to the campaign of terror haunting the lives of our trans, nonbinary, and gendernonconforming neighbors. Angel Naira, 36, was found dead from gunshot injuries in her Aliquippa home in Beaver County. Police responded to a […]

LGBTQIA+ Commission statement re: TDOR and Transgender Awareness Week UPDATED

Statement on Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Day of Remembrance 2021  The City of Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ Commission recognizes our beautiful, vibrant, and talented  trans and nonbinary neighbors this year during Transgender Awareness Week. We hope this  week finds you happy and healthy. Regardless of your age, your profession, or your race;  regardless of whether or […]

Be a Santa Claws for a Cat Caretaker in Your Community

Adopt a Family Christmas

Be a Santa Claws for a Cat Caretaker in Your Community Every neighborhood has at least one “cat lady” or “cat folx” as we like to say – the person who takes care of homeless cats, day in and day out. It is rewarding work, but work that can often be overlooked. Caretakers sacrifice time […]

Autoimmune Dysmotility and Me: Part Four

GI SmartPill

It probably was a good thing I was running late for appointment and not left to my own devices too long – I rushed into the Esophageal Institute and sent immediately back for my procedure. Thus, I was too distracted to contemplate just how fucking big the pill was that I was going to swallow. […]