The Legacy of Fire Truck Santa: West Mifflin

The third weekend in December meant more Advent candles, school winding down, and Fire truck Santa. Those of us who grew up with volunteer fire companies often enjoyed a tradition of someone’s Dad/Uncle/Cousin playing Santa. This while they circled every street, distributing lovely treats. The full sized Clark bar was my favorite. For me this […]

Why is Indigenous Peoples Day so important? 

By Lee Dingus, a Pittsburgh based Haudenosaunee – Seneca artist and educator, Founder of Echoes of the Four Directions Why is Indigenous Peoples Day so important?  Indigenous People’s Day recognizes the resilience of my ancestors and the legacy I carry with me, my grandmothers. It is a day dedicated to the impact colonialism had on my […]

In October, LGBTQ+ History Month is an Important Resource

Each October, we celebrate LGBTQ History Month to coincide with National Coming Out Day on 11 October and to commemorate the first and second marches on Washington in 1979 and 1987 for LGBT rights. The third march, co-coordinated by Pittsburgh activist Billy Hileman, took place in April 1993. This is something I did not know. […]

Prom 1988: Did I Have the Time of My Life?

I had a very nice prom experience 25 years ago. My BFF John was my date. He was four years older than me so that was cool. He loved to dance so that was cool. He cut a dashing figure in his tuxedo so that was cool. And he was an out gay man so […]

Reflections on 30 Year Anniversary of March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, Bi Equal Rights and Liberation on April 25, 1993

America’s Civil Rights Agenda Stalled as Attacks on LGBTQIA People Expand Almost thirty years ago, on April 25, 1993, nearly 1,000,000 people marched onto the nation’s capitol in the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. This is a guest blog post by Pittsburgh based queer activist Billy Hileman. Billy was […]

City of Pittsburgh Honors Life and Death of Trans Trailblazer Wendi Miller (July 14, 1947 – April 6, 2023)

Saturday, April 8, 2023 Declared “Wendi Miller Day” Coming out in the late 1990s brought me into the orbit of some of the iconic community leaders whose courage and prescience during the 1980s and 1990s laid the groundwork for the rights and privileges LGBTQ+ folx enjoy today in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania. I didn’t know them […]

My First Scottish Subscription ‘WeeBox’ Arrived

WeeBox

My first Wee Box, a Scottish cultural themed subscription service, arrived in January. When I received notice my next box is en route, I realized that I had not blogged about it! I learned about WeeBox through the podcast Stories of Scotland. A WeeBox contains five gifts  worth more than the cost of the box, often exclusive […]

How I’m Getting Familiar With Scotland

Jennie Tarleton

During my growing up years, my family wove a tale of our Irish origins leaving me with the mixed up understanding that I was mostly Irish Catholic with a wee bit of German. Oh, so wrong. I learned that my family had participated in a unique 20th century “forgetting” of their ethnic origins and cultures […]

My Blog Turns 18 Today

18 candles

Jesus, it has been a year. The nonprofit I helped to found, Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities, was in business and hit the ground running in January. My mother died in February. I received my second national #GLAADaward as Outstanding Blog in May. I threw out the first pitch during the Pittsburgh Pirates Pride Night at PNC […]

Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ Commission Editorial in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In honor of Pride Month, the City of Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ Commission crafted an editorial that was published in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Today is June 28, 2022. The first day of the Stonewall Uprising began on June 28, 1969. I am sharing the entire piece here which is something I would not normally do. But the […]