Five Ways to Help Distribute Face Masks to Trans and Queer Neighbors

Pittsburgh Face Masks

The Pittsburgh MasQUe ProjecT continues to distribute face masks to trans and queer households throughout the region. We are now in our fourth full month and have distributed more than 1500 masks through a network of volunteer sewists, drivers, packers, and others whose work is essential to this effort. Some have gone to individuals, others […]

World Press Freedom Day 

From the New York Times Local journalism is in crisis and at risk of disappearing. These vital resources are critical to the safety, security and knowledge of our communities, never more so than in these difficult times. On World Press Freedom Day and every day, we encourage you to find a local news organization you […]

Help Connect Trans and Queer Neighbors with Face Masks in Pittsburgh

Sue and Laura in Face Masks

Update: as of April 13, we have received requests for 39 masks and identified five sewists and sources. Update: as of April 11, we have processed requests for 17 masks, received another 9 requests and identified two sewists. Laura and I were able to order masks last week through Operation Face Mask Pittsburgh. She has […]

Lexi, 33, was a Black Trans Woman Murdered in Harlem

I don’t have many details about the life of Lexi “Ebony” Sutton. She was 33. She has friends who mourn her. I’m not sure if Ebony was a nickname, a house affiliation, etc. There are far too many details about the horrific murder that took her life in Harlem in the early hours of Saturday […]

Day Seven of COVID-19 Quarantine: Critter Version

I”m using Monday, March 16 as our personal starting point because that is the day Laura was officially told to work from home as much as possible. I’ll be honest with you, most of my anecdotes and tales involve cats. If that’s not your jam, scroll away to another blog. Our basic goals are to […]

Yahira Nesby, 33, is the Most Recent Black Trans Woman Murdered in 2019

Yahira Nesby

  Yahira Nesby was a 33-year-old Black trans woman who has lived in the Brooklyn and Bronx boroughs of New York City. She was born and raised in North Carolina where she had attended Vance High School and Central Piedmont Community College. According to the New York City Anti-Violence Project, Yahira participated in New York’s […]

82 Trans Stories from Western Pennsylvania Honor Trans Awareness Week

Transgender Awareness Week

The week before Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, we have Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility of transgender people and address issues the community faces. I’ve curated 82 stories from our #AMPLIFY project to illustrate the multi-faceted experiences of transgender neighbors in Western Pennsylvania. Our project asks people to describe their […]

#NaBloPoMoPgh Writing Prompt November 8 #NaBloPoMo2019

These prompts are for anyone interested in or connected to Pittsburgh Some of you grew up here, some relocated as adults. If the prompt isn’t a perfect fit, feel free to adapt to your circumstances – insert your own towns, tweak it a bit, write about something else entirely. Kennywood is a very unique regional […]

Five Pieces of Pittsburgh History I Never Knew #NaBloPoMoPgh #NaBloPoMo2019

Westylvania

The Prompt: Summarize what you learned about Pittsburgh’s history in your school days? As an adult, did you learn anything new about Pittsburgh’s history that surprised you? What parts of local history would you like to learn about now? I attended a public school in a blue-collar suburb of Pittsburgh. To my recollection, we never […]

Remembering Simon on this National Cat Day

It was a blustery, dark night in December 2002 when I left the domestic violence agency where I was a volunteer. I fumbled for my keys and almost ignored the plaintive sound. A few minutes later, the plaintive soundee was wrapped around my ankles, meowing loudly, and demanding my immediate attention. He was a scrawny […]