LGBTQ Liberation and Equality in Pittsburgh

Laverne Cox Pittsburgh

The road to equality and/or liberation is bumpy. I use the term “equality and/or liberation” because the juxtaposition of those goals (destinations?) indicates one significant reason for the bumpiness. Indiana and Arkansas happened this week. A lot of my friends (including me) tried to figure out the nuances of RFRA laws, something that only became […]

Report Details Homelessness Among LGBTQ Youth in Allegheny County

Homeless Youth Pittsburgh

A report released by the Allegheny County Department of Human Services ‘I’ll never get used to it: Young People Living on the Street’ confirms that at least one-third of the number of homeless youth (ages 18-24) in our region are LGBTQ and most say a lack of family support is why they are not living […]

In 2013, 72% of anti-LGBT Homicide Victims Were Transgender Women

Island Nettles

This is an important piece from BuzzFeed about the epidemic of violence against trans women, particularly trans women of color. This snapshot commemorates the one year anniversary of the murder of Islan Nettles, a crime that remains unsolved. Out of 18 anti-LGBT homicides in 2013 included in a report by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, almost […]

17 Year Old Trans Male Student Dies By Suicide in Eastern PA

Riley

    Photo of Riley via Facebook 17 year old Riley Matthew Moscatel died by suicide this week. Riley was a student at Bucks County Technical High School who also happened to be a transgender male.  I held off writing about this because most of the media coverage by local PA and national outlets has done […]

Ten Ways the GLCC is building Community in Downtown Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ Community Center is called the GLCC (Gay and Lesbian Community Center) and is located at 210 Grant Street, just a block away from the City-County Building. The GLCC is open 7 days a week with a range of programming open to everyone in the community – LGBTQ persons and straight allies. The GLCC […]

Can I Bring My Gay Friend to the GLCC Youth Programs?

Earlier this week, I represented Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ Community Center (the GLCC) at an event for teen girls in a program called GirlGov . My assigned task was to describe advocacy opportunities with the GLCC. But as so often is the case, my actual reason for being there was something entirely different. The set-up was like speed […]

Five Essential Lessons From Pittsburgh Pridefest 2014

Pittsburgh Pridefest

I am breaking my silence on events that unfolded at Pittsburgh Pridefest. As some of you know, my partner of eleven years is an investigator with the City’s Office of Municipal Investigations so I do not comment publicly on active investigations of alleged police misconduct. But there are some serious problems with how the LGBTQ community is responding to this […]

Pgh Mayor Peduto Records PSA to Promote HIV Testing

Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ Community Center (GLCC) unveiled a 30 second PSA featuring Mayor Bill Peduto discussing the importance of HIV testing. The Mayor came to the GLCC during regular testing hours to be tested ahead of the National HIV Testing Day on June 27, 2014. The GLCC offers weekly testing hours on Thursdays from 5-9 PM. […]

Lunch with Randy Forrester

Randy Forrester

You can choose any person from history to teach you any topic you want. Who’s your teacher, and what do they teach you? Lately, I’ve been reading some LGBTQ memoir type books – learning about our history from the 1980’s, 1990’s and 2000’s through the eyes of Sean Strub (“Body Counts“) and Kelly Cogswell (“Eating […]

Five Articles about Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ History You Don’t Want To Miss (re)Reading

Pittsburgh Pride

I’ve been on this kick lately of reading archived media coverage of Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ history. I set up several “Scoop.It” sites to curate the information. One is specific to the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh and the other is general LGBTQ Pittsburgh history. Scoop.It is a neat tool – you can follow my […]