Sue

Sue is the founder of Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents blog, established in 2005.. She has an MSW from the University in Pittsburgh and a BA in Political Science from Marymount University. Her undergraduate claim to fame is a six month stint as an intern with then Congressman Rick Santorum in 1991. Born and raised in West Mifflin, Sue attended college in Washington DC, then graduate school in Louisiana and ended up in Kentucky doing social service ministry. She returned to Pittsburgh in 1997. She now lives on Pittsburgh’s Northside with her wife, Laura. She was among the first out LGBTQ people named to Pittsburgh’s 40 Under 40 in 2004 and is a graduate of Leadership Development Initiative Class VII. After being fully and permanently disabled in 2010, Sue has continued to serve the community. She founded the Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project to address hunger and environmental issues. In 2015, she launched the #AMPLIFY LGBTQ archive in conjunction with a two-year artist in residence stint with Most Wanted Fine Art. Sue and her wife have fostered over 25 kittens through Pittsburgh CAT and Homeless Cat Management Team, and now manage multiple community cat colonies in their neighborhood. In 2020, Sue cofounded the Pittsburgh MasQUe ProjecT to support the queer and trans community during the pandemic, distributing tens of thousands of face masks and other supplies throughout the region. In 2021, Sue created the #PghCatFolx projects to support neighbors working with community cats. Under that heading came the Dr. John P. Ruffing DVM Pet Food Projects, memorializing one of her very best friends who died in 2007. In 2021, Sue worked with community leaders to develop and establish a 501c3 nonprofit organization, Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities (PLC) where she currently serves as Board President. PLC absorbed the #PghCatFolx projects. Also in 2021, Sue was the first person in history appointed to the City of Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ Commission and was unanimously elected as one of three inaugural co-chairs. Her blogging has garnered numerous awards Favorite GLBT Media Publication - 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 (Keystone Alliance Gaylife Newsletter Reader’s Poll) Favorite GLBT Social Media - 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 (Keystone Alliance Gaylife Newsletter Reader’s Poll) Best Local Blogger - 2016, 2019 (Pittsburgh City Paper Reader’s Poll) LGBTQIA Pittsburgh’s Best Blogger - 2020 (SisTersPgh, People’s Pride of Pittsburgh) Outstanding Blog - 2019, 2022 (GLAAD Media Awards) Sue has also personally been honored Person of the Year - The Advocate Magazine, 2022 15 Lesbian Icons - LGBTQ Nation, 2023 LGBTQIA Pittsburgh’s Best Lesbian Activist - SisTersPgh, People’s Pride of Pittsburgh 2022 Sue believes in identifying and filling gaps in supports & services rather than recreating the wheel. She uses both her undergraduate and graduate degrees on a regular basis as a blogger and activist and regularly circulates her 1991 internship photo just to shake things up on her social media feeds. Her own experiences with cPTSD, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and other health challenges have fueled her health blogging and activism. She also writes extensively about her family history, drawing on her amateur genealogy hobby. The blog regularly reviews arts and cultural events as well as exploring restaurants, soap opera storylines, and hyper-local news. Sue and her wife Laura have been together since 2003. They were married on a very cold February 2, 2021 in their backyard at a very small ceremony co-officiated by their pagan priestess friend, Anne, and then-Mayor Bill Peduto. They have six niblings, four in Pittsburgh and two in Philadelphia.

Posts by Sue:

EnvironmentFamily

The Easter Five Tulips Bloomed Instead of Just One

April 20, 2025 by

For years, one little tulip would bloom in the backyard, between the compost bin and the cat feeding station. We’ve tried to remember it’s origin. I thought a family funeral, but my blog archives proved otherwise – they were a condolence gift in March 2008 after the death of our beloved dog Mona. She had […]

#PghCatFolx

Happy National Cat Folx Day – April 19

April 19, 2025 by

Today is a very important holiday that we have slightly tweaked to represent all the wonderful people who have bonds with cats. National Cat Ladies Folx Day seems a little random without much documentation, but we are used to that. I’ve changed ‘cat lady’ to ‘cat folx’ to be more representative of the lush diversity […]

Politics

LGBTQ News: School Districts Suing the State, Trans Day of Visibility, and Update on Legislation

April 19, 2025 by

In early March, we reported that two public school districts and several parents have sued Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs include two districts — South Side Area and Knoch, both in western Pennsylvania — and two Republican state lawmakers, Reps. Aaron Bernstine (Lawrence and Butler County) and Barbara Gleim (Cumberland County) as well as three parents and […]

Friends

That Time We Fell Out of Touch, Forever.

April 17, 2025 by

It has been 18 years since I last saw you, laid out stiffly in your coffin. It wasn’t you – you curled up, you fidgeted, you made big gestures, you drove me crazy with your constant shifting . You weren’t physically still. That’s how I knew for sure that you were gone. Your body was […]

ActivismAdvocacyPolitics

There is a lot going on. It IS confusing. Don’t give up.

April 16, 2025 by

I know it is a lot. I can’t promise to be comprehensive, but I’m going to do my best to share information. Feel free to send me details via email pghlesbian @ Gmail or social media. Rally for 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 AND 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞! 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟗𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝟏:𝟎𝟎 𝐩𝐦 at 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐚 Fish Fry Day to Support Lauren […]

FriendsFundraisers and FriendraisersMarriage

Yesterday, My Friend Created a Venmo to Support My Legal Fund

April 16, 2025 by

My friend has long stayed away from online currency accounts. The few times I needed to send $$ to her, I sent it to her son’s PayPal. So I was quite surprised to get her note that she had successfully set up a Venmo account and sent me $20. Sure enough, there it was with […]

Faith and Religion

The Times I Believed in Easter and How That Traumatized Me

April 15, 2025 by

I grew up believing in Easter the way all Gen X kids did – yeah, yeah, yeah, let’s get to the candy. We watched the Rankin and Bass holiday shows, much inferior to the Christmas shows. Wear a new dress, eat some ham. I had no clue, like most Catholic kids. No clue what any […]

Political Q&A

Why I Disinvited Both Mayoral Candidates From the 2025 Political Q&A

April 14, 2025 by

This was a tough decision. You, dear readers, deserve candidates who follow through on their commitment to answer questions. We see this NOT playing out every single day as federal elected officials avoid town halls or other forms of engagement with their constituents. Both Democratic candidates for Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh agreed to […]

#PghCatFolxPLC

The Pet Food Pantry Needs Paper Towels and Baby Wipes for Cat Colony Spring Cleaning

April 12, 2025 by

The Dr. John P. Ruffing VMD Pet Food Projects pet food pantry has been operating for six months. We have 40 active caretakers/households registered and 60 total. We typically give 11-15 pounds of dry and 20 cans of wet each month. We’ve also been working to get people connected with each other, especially neighbors. We’ve […]

Q&AThe Arts

Q&A with Shammen McCune, the Actor, Educator, and Artist

April 8, 2025 by

Magic happens (like empathy, compassion, respect, passion, trust…) when we take a moment to listen to one another, acknowledge our specific existence in the world without judgment, and respect each other Sometimes it is the show, sometimes it is the actor who connects with you, or me in this case. I find that when it is […]