AMPLIFY! LGBTQ

Western Pennsylvania

  Beginning in 2015, I am working as an Artist in Residence with Most Wanted Fine Art, a gallery based in Garfield. My project is titled “AMPLIFY! LGBTQ” and will feature a series of Q&A blog posts with LGBTQ neighbors throughout Western Pennsylvania. The concept is straightforward. Use the Q&A format to amplify the lived […]

Celebrate National Coming Out Day By Reading These 318 Stories

National Coming Out Day

On this National Coming Out Day, it is important to remember that coming out is not a one and done experience – we “come out” every time we meet someone new who has been taught to assume everyone is heterosexual and cisgender. And sometimes we don’t come out because it is not safe. We might […]

318 Coming Out Stories from Western Pennsylvania

National Coming Out Day Pittsburgh

Happy National Coming Out Day! Today is the day we celebrate coming out – being more open about our LGBTQIA+ identities AND encouraging folx still “in the closet” to take their own steps. Sharing our own unique stories is an essential tool to offer support. In honor of that reality, I am offering this list […]

Five Ways for White Folx to Change the Narrative of Thanksgiving

Giving Thanks Indigenous

It is an old township, and early in the history of this county it embraced an extended area. It derived its name from the fact that when the early settlers came in from Westmoreland County and elsewhere as early as 1794, they discovered, much to their surprise, a large square of cleared land. From its […]

Worthington Man Behind Racist Messages Plans to Erect Two Additional Billboards in Armstrong County

Worthington Armstrong County racism

Last week, the Kittanning Leader Times ran a comprehensive article on the racist billboards posted along State Route 422 in Worthington Borough. The article is behind a paywall so if you’d like to read it, you will need to invest either $2.99 for a days access or $20 for a month. The reporter, Jon Andreassi, […]

Q&A with the Progressive History of Pittsburgh

View of Pittsburgh

I think Black History Month (February) and Women’s History Month (March) are both critical resources to help each of us learn more about the experiences and contributions of our neighbors. One tool that I’ve come to rely upon is the Progressive History of Pittsburgh project, a Facebook page that explores social justice history in this […]

With Anti-Transgender Editorial, Post-Gazette Officially Proves that Pittsburgh Never Was #StrongerThanHate

The phrase ‘a new low’ seems inadequate to describe the mean-spirited, churlish, vicious, nasty, hateful bitterness of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial Board. But writing out that serious of descriptive words repeatedly is equally insufficient to capture the true evil this Board has embraced. This week, they published this scathing indictment of Twitter’s new speech policies […]

Honoring the Lives and Deaths of Our Trans Neighbors on TDOR 2018

Transgender Day of Remembrance 2018 Pittsburgh

The Transgender Day of Remembrance of 2018 has a new degree of poignancy to me because of the additional layers of transphobia that are on display and thread through the lives of our transgender neighbors. It is also the first year I’m blogging about a trans woman from Pittsburgh among those killed this past year. […]

2018 LGBTQ Holiday Giving Projects: Supporting Persad, SisTers Pgh, and Garden of Peace

Every year during this season, I ask you to support particularly vulnerable members of our community. This year, we are once again focusing on Persad Center, but two different populations – isolated rural LGBTQ elders and LGBTQ youth. We have also invited SisTers Pgh and Garden of Peace to be part of our program because […]

Ross Township Extends Nondiscrimination Protections to LGBTQ Residents

Ross Township Nondiscrimination

Now here’s a much-needed shot in the arm for LGBTQ folks in Western Pennsylvania – Ross Township has extended nondiscrimination protections in employment, housing, and public accommodations to include sexual orientation and gender identity. The vote was 5-2 to create an Equal Opportunity Board and extended the protections.  As you might anticipate, the vote was […]