Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

This post caught my eye this morning. A political billboard in the Scranton area included an image of a drag artist – without their consent. This is the campaign team of Congressman Rob Bresnahan. He represents the District in the8th Congressional District. The district includes Wayne County, Lackawanna County, Luzerne County, Monroe County, and Pike County.

Here’s the ad recorded from a television. Apparently, the ad ran on tv, radio, and online but is very hard to find. The image in question is Lady Lydia dressed in red with Paige Cognetti. Lady Lydia is the family friendly drag personality of Frank Carey.

“Congressman Rob Bresnahan Jr singles out images of Frank’s Lady Lydia as if she were some enemy of him or his constituents. It paints her and her pride activism as something to be ashamed of, and a reason to vote against his opponent,” says one supporter.

Frank explains how the photo was appropriated.

“The ad itself is crazy the picture they are using is not even a current one It’s from 2025 at the Pride Flag Raising Ceremony, I sang for Paige Cognetti at the event representing the Rainbow Alliance/Queer NEPA. And for perspective we are located in Lackawanna County

Shortly after the event, the pic was copied off of the county Facebook page, and The Young Republicans of Luzerne County turned it black and white and we became the cover photo of their FB page. Both Paige and I couldn’t understand what that was all about , lol cause they were in a different county lol

It was just used to bash her as the Scranton Mayor obviously.”

Pittsburgh based PR professional Alistair McQueen told us “as a marketing professional I have to comment that putting “im with them” in the center of the screen doesn’t help their cause.”

McQueen also emphasized that Lady Lydia’s hair looked fantastic.

Bresnahan proudly features his Trump endorsement on his campaign page, along with the Teamsters and State Troopers. That’s comforting – state troopers pulling over a drag artist on their way home from a performance, probably a benefit, and what should we expect? And why are the Teamsters supporting Starbuck workers unionizing efforts AND this guy?

The ad hits all the familiar notes – trans kids are abused, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, slush funds, etc.

Bresnahan’s oponent in the race is Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti. The great news is that most polls show Cognetti has the lead and might flip the seat.

Outraged? Here’s what to do

• Contribute to Frank’s GoFundMe to push back against this behavior.
• Contribute to Paige Cognetti’s campaign to also push back.
• If you live in this district, show up on election day and really push back.

I applaud Lady Lydia for pushing back both for her own reputation and to denounce the ongoing attacks on trans neighbors. She’ll have legal fees, but every form of resistance matters.

I’m sure she’s going to experience even more fallout because she pushed back on the bullies.

If you can chip in to help her do that, it is important.

The images in question come from Lady Lydia and Mayor Cognetti posing at an event in 2025 (red) and then in 2026 (blue.) These are personal images that belong to Frank. Used here with permission.