Finding Pride in My Disability

July is Disability Pride Month. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed on July 26, 1990, to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities. Following this legislation, Boston held the first Disability Pride Day event in July 1990 and Disability Pride Month was born. “To change the way people think about and define “disability,” to […]

Crowdfunding New Feeding Stations for #FortFaulsey Community Cats

We sponsor the #FortFaulsey community cat colony with two feeding stations –  one halfway up back alley on a friend’s property and the other in Sue and Laura’s backyard. There are about a dozen regular cats. These latest rains have just destroyed our ‘temporary’ feeding stations aka plastic bins after a punishing weather cycle simply […]

Local and National News Intersections in LGBTQ Media

News

Yesterday, someone asked me to compare my ‘national’ content to my ‘local’ blog content. I was a bit flummoxed because it rarely seems to be so neatly parsed. My life and the lives of all LGBTQIA+ folx in this region are regularly defined by the collision of the local with the national. Our lives are […]

Oh, Deer. That’s Not a Cat

deer at the cat colony

Deer readers. We are doing some fundraising for Fort Faulsey to replace the feeding stations – we hope to buy six of these amazing stations created by Feralvilla that are durable, hygenic, and safe. I’ve been looking for great clips of the colony to highlight why we need this and tonight … I had a […]

Do I want to belong to any club that would have me as a member?

“He naturally despised the Club that did take him. The members were a poor lot, many of them in the City - stockbrokers, solicitors, auctioneers - what not! Like most men of strong character but not too much originality, old Jolyon set small store by the class to which he belonged.” John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga I wasted about […]

29-Year-Old Afro-Latina Trans Woman Shot to Death in Puerto Rico

Uvita Channel Perez Ortiz

A 29-year-old Afro-Latina trans woman Chanell Perez Ortiz was killed over the weekend in the city of Carolina in northern Puerto Rico. Chanell was also known as Uvita, an endearment, among her friends and family. Sources close to the victim confirm that she identified as Afro-Latina and as a trans woman. She was shot to […]

Q&A With Kejuan, 16, Sharing Her Trans Joy On-Stage With Billy Porter in Pittsburgh

I believe it was an example of trans joy because I could just show the world who I was.  I think trans joy means that any trans person can express themselves freely without being judged for who they are. It also means that they celebrate their pride and the beauty of their bodies.  One of […]

Dear Taylor Swift. Pittsburgh’s Trans Kids Need You.

Protect Trans Kids

Friday night is one of the two biggest concerts of the year in Pittsburgh – Taylor Swift. The other is Beyonce in August. The news has devoted multiple segments for the past two weeks, nightly, to the concert – the fans, the hotel rooms being rented, the restaurants, the parking, etc. As someone who lives […]

Remembering the 49 Victims of the Pulse Shooting

Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old Amanda L. Alvear, 25 years old Oscar A. Aracena Montero, 26 years old Rodolfo Ayala Ayala, 33 years old Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old Angel Candelario-Padro, 28 years old Juan Chavez Martinez, 25 years old Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old […]

Drifting Away from MSNBC as Programs Lose Diverse Voices

Black Women Voices Media

When we first brought cable into our home about a decade ago, we immediately began watching ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ with religious fervor. Representative lesbian in media? Yes! Rachel introduced us to other programming, including the eye-opening representative weekend programming helmed by many people of color. Most notable was Melissa Harris-Perry morning slots on Saturday […]