Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

The pain of this week is pretty hard to describe. I’ll try.

First, there is the Epstein files/lists/cases and victims. Every news cycle is filled with debates about who is on the list, if the list exists, and should it be revealed. Pittsburgh’s own Congresswoman Summer Lee made a bold move – a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives has approved a motion by Rep. Summer Lee of Pittsburgh to issue a subpoena for files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein per WESA 90.5 FM.

I want the light of the scorching sun to shine down on every piece of information in those files. But that already happened in Pennsylvania in the Grand Jury Report. It happened with Penn State, Ohio State, the Women’s Gymnastic Association, Bill Cosby, etc. I’m not sure we’ve actually made progress.

And then there’s my own experiences – my paternal grandfather was a monster who groomed young girls in his family (including me) and raped adult women. I am the first person to expose his evil actions and it has cost me.

I see him as the grandmonster, but I see the people who enabled him. Because no one investigated or protected us, I don’t know if he had associates. I don’t know if he kept records. I don’t know if he tried to teach men and boys in my family to follow in his footsteps – there’s very little research on this.

Back to today. Every hour, I am accosted by public debate about my own private horrors. I hear the rationalizations creeping in as per Bill Cosby and Joe Paterno and countless priests. And my grandmonster. And the adults in my family who didn’t keep us safe or help us heal.

The toll this public debate has on victims and survivors is not often explored, merely mentioned as an afterthought. I know very well it is not my safety you are concerned with. If you cared about kids, you wouldn’t cut Medicaide and SNAP. If you cared about women, you wouldn’t slash funding for violence programs and resources.

You care about the gotcha moment. Finding some way to smear Bill Clinton is far more interesting than doing any healing work. And your glee is actually causing more harm.

I try to skip those news stories, but it is very hard to do so especially when you are a blogger.

I want everything to be exposed. I just wish that came with resources and supports for survivors as much as consequences for the evildoers.

Just remember – we are real people who experienced horrible things. There will be no justice for me unless I magically found information long hidden or an adult relative apologized to me. For me, I simply try to shine a light to protect future generations. Or buffer them.

Second, we have the President’s latest Executive Order dated July 24, 2025 ENDING CRIME AND DISORDER ON AMERICA’S STREETS.

As I’ve shared, I was involuntarily civilly committed on August 27, 2023. I was not experiencing a mental health crisis or presenting any sort of threat. While I was examined at UPMC, the locks to my home were changed and I was homeless for 196 days.

The layers of trauma of being detained without due process are piled on me like cold wet towels. I have been struggling for nearly two years to process it while also seeking justice. You can read about my experience here: bit.ly/HelpLGBTQBlogger

One of those layers is the pervasive fear of being committed again without due process. If Allegheny County Chief Executive Sara Innamarato’s government wants to deny a trial to make my case, what hope is there for anyone in this region? She’s the most progressive leader we’ve had in that role. She is strong on homelessness, mental health, LGBTQ+ rights, and healthcare.

So why isn’t she giving me a fair chance? Just because she can legally, doesn’t mean she should ethically (or legally.) Where is my opportunity to make my due process claim in Allegheny County?

I have a massive safety plan, multiple therapists, legal documents, multiple lawyers, and more. I don’t have much money, but we work on that. Over 300 people have donated to my fund. I trust they believe me.

But I’ll never trust a police officer again. I struggle every day with the fallout of this experience. My life was hard before, but I was trying. I’m still trying.

And now I’m aware that I have an additional target on my back thanks to the Federal Government. Or thanks to the President.

I was made homeless because of a flawed civil commitment warrant. It is only thanks to the grace of my friends who took me in (couch surfing) that I was safe. Allegheny County leaders knew and not once did anyone in County Government reach out to offer me resources or supports or housing options.

I am terrified. And almost broken. But not quite.

I want Allegheny County residents to understand how County Government understands due process with regard to civil commitments. I want State leaders to understand that the Mental Health Procedures Act is interpreted and applied – do we need an enforcement clause? I don’t know. I know it needs to be enforced.

If the Federal Government is going to use civil commitments to sweep homeless folx off the streets for whatever reason, local elected officials need to resist. That is a violent, awful policy. It makes no sense. Where are we likely to be institutionalized? El Salvador?

If we haven’t learned by now that DUE PROCESS is imperative with this government, we are probably lost.

If this white middle-class, middle-aged, cisgender woman with a bit of a high profile and a long history of advocacy – if this happened to me in all my Karen privilege, what do you think is going to happen to people with fewer resources and privileges? I’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars that I didn’t have to fight the legal battles. No large national LGBTQ or mental health or civil rights groups are funding this.

Heading into the weekend with these two media stories everywhere is daunting. Please educate yourself and realize – look at the data on sexual violence and mental illness/homelessness – this effects people you love and care about.

Please don’t let me spend the rest of my life in fear that like my childhood when I was taken away from my home to be given to my groomer, I can be again taken away from my home and sent God knows where through no fault of my own.

Please.

If you’d like to donate to my legal and living crowdfund, you have a few options

• GoFundMe bit.ly/HelpLGBTQBlogger
• Venmo @Pghlesbian
• Paypal.me/Pghlesbian
• CashApp $Pghlesbian