Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

December 29, 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of this blog.

That’s huge. Most blogs are abandoned after 90 days, the rest typically last 2-3 years. So we are kicking some ass when it comes to longevity.

Anyway, I am here right now to ask you, my correspondents, how we should celebrate?

Guest blog posts – I did invite a whole bunch of folx with ties to the history of this blog to submit a guest blog post around a theme of “What is the legacy of this blog?” and only a handful replied. Would you like to submit a guest post? I do need to know and confirm your identity. It can be written, video, music, etc. Reach out to me via email pghlesbian at Gmail dot com.

Other suggestions – what do you think?

Things I’m not going to do – no parties, no gatherings, no shindigs, no receptions, nothing like that. Not only am I a poor lady, but I don’t want to worry about people not showing up. That’s a drag.

Things that didn’t work – I tried to get media attention, but it seems most of the outlets now have a “no other outlet” policy when it comes to programming. Or they stopped printing. Or fired a lot of their staff. Or hire scabs. Or …

So what have we accomplished in 20 years?

• Published nearly 7000 blog posts, an average of 350 per year
• Created the #AMPLIFY archive of first person stories from LGBTQ people with ties to Western Pennsylvania
• Created the ‘In Memoriam’ section honoring the lives and acknowledge the deaths of trans and nonbinary individuals in the US
• Published 136 Q&A’s with electoral candidates and politicians
• Published 738 Q&A’s total
• Reviewed 359 plays, products, events, books, and concerts
• Organized multiple projects
  • Blog for Equality
  • The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project
  • The Pittsburgh MasQue Project
  • The Protect Trans Kids Project
  • The #AMPLIFY Project (see above)
  • The Steel City Snowflakes Project
  • Established Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities
  • Countless crowdfundraisers to support community and neighbors
• Won some awards

You know what is fun? My readership is up, my following on social media is increasing – almost 100K on Instagram – and that seems the opposite of what should happen at 20 years. I should be fading away, blogging about the good old days, and bemoaning the rise of newsletters. Ha.

Instead, I embrace change and evolution. I try to make Reels. I subscribe to all the substacks because I think what matters is that the work goes on, not the format it uses.

Here’s what I’d like to still do in the coming years

• Get a big fat grant from a local foundation to address the archival needs of this blog.
• Move to a more stable webhosting company.
• More Q&A’s
• Travel to a LGBTQ conference
• Witness the triumph of the resistance overturning the autocrat
• Be invited to a segment on MSNBC (or Ms Now)
• Dress in a Handmaiden costume for a protest because it is exactly the right amount of awesome
• Never have to use my whistles
• More drag artists, please

I’ll save more maudlin stuff for December. Right now, I’d like to know what you think about this blog’s legacy for Pittsburgh. What would you do to celebrate?