How Starbucks Helped Me Endure the Pandemic. Until Now.

I used to smirk at people who sat in line, engines idling, for long periods of time at a local Starbucks. I could park, go in, place my order, use the bathroom, collect my order, and walk out while they sat there just waiting. My wife and I spent a lot of time at Starbucks. […]

Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ Blog Nominated Five Consecutive Years for GLAAD Awards as ‘Outstanding Blog’

Outstanding Blog GLAAD awards

This is pretty nifty, as they say – our blog has been nominated five consecutive years (2018-2022) in the Outstanding Blog category of the national GLAAD Media Awards. We won the category in 2019. And our work is valued enough that we’ve been back multiple times. The category is competitive and I’m honored to be amongst […]

Watch: Yolanda Renee King, MLK’s granddaughter, talks with Rev Al Sharpton about her activism

The best thing of the weekend was this exchange. When Yolanda Renee King said “Hi Uncle Al, thank you for having me on your show,” my heart swelled. Reverend Al Sharpton is an emotionally accessible man and journalist, but this was a new level of how generations fuel each other. Watching both of them smile […]

Here You Go, Steelers

Steelers Fight Song

I am not a fan of the Steelers, most specifically because of Ben Roethlisberger’s history as a sexual predator and the team’s embrace of the ‘he found Jesus/wife/kids’ solution to the fallout. I’ve been quite glad to see that amidst all of the hoopla about his retirement, the stories of his sexual violence are still […]

Do You Have a Hard Copy of the 2003 ‘Voices for a New Tomorrow’ Needs Assessment?

If you were active in the regional community around 2003 (pre-Delta era) – I’d like to talk with you. In January 2003, Persad Center published a community needs assessment in conjunction with the Gay and Lesbian Community Center (now the Pittsburgh Equality Center) and The Seven Project. The researchers were Dr. Sandra Quinn and Dr. […]

This Blog Celebrates Our Sweet Sixteen Today

Most blogs are abandoned within 90 days. Those that endure typically last 2-3 years. That works out to my blog being 5-8 “generations” removed from the blogs someone launches as a New Years resolution in 2022. I don’t remember celebrating my actual sweet 16, but it was certainly not like the movies. I was all […]

My Quest to be Pittsburgh Famous in 2022

Twitter Pittsburgh

Content Note: this is a frivolous distraction theme. If taken too seriously, please do not email me to explain why I am ridiculous or don’t deserve more Twitter followers of fame. Phooey on you.  Back in the late 90’s, my employer had us doing a daily radio talk show from (then) WESA on the your […]

The Origins of the Christmas Tree and Pittsburgh’s Flaming Tree Festival of the Magi

Christmas trees

Google “history of the Christmas tree” and you’ll find everything from little snips about Queen Victoria to pagan/indigenous culture appropriation to lots of photos of the evolution of American tree decor. It is a fun and interesting way to explore culture. My favorite bit is the ongoing battle between Estonia and Latvia. I came across […]

Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ Commission Statement on World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day • December 1, 2021   Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ Commission Honors Those Who Have Died  from HIV/AIDS, Elevates the Dignity of Persons Living With HIV, and  Joins The Call To End The AIDS Epidemic By 2030  Forty years ago, in June 1981, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published an article  describing five cases of Pneumocystis […]

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. […]