Pittsburgh History of Halloween 1890 – The Pittsburgh Press

Pittsburgh Halloween History

Fri, Oct 31, 1890 – Page 2 · The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.com Fri, Oct 31, 1890 – Page 2 · The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.com

Guest Blog Post: Bloomers Woman’s Space Broke Barriers in Pgh #LGBTHistoryMonth

Bloomers Pittsburgh

October is LGBT History Month. I’ve asked several people to share their thoughts on regional historical events that left an impression on them. Some contributors are LGBTQ, some are allies. All are people I think you will enjoy hearing from this month. If you would like to submit a guest post, please click here. Bloomers and […]

An Open Letter to the Senator Heinz @HistoryCenter Regarding Donald Trump

Heinz History Center Trump

Dear History Center, Frankly, I’m disgusted that you took money from the Trump Campaign to host an event last night with Vice-Presidential candidate Mike Pence. Your institution is predicated upon the idea that we can learn from history. Trump’s campaign is predicated on the idea that facts, historical truths and alternative narratives are subject to […]

Billy Hileman on Pridefest Controversy: ‘I Stand With The Protestors’

Diversity Pittsburgh Pridefest

Late last week, longtime LGBTQ activist Billy Hileman began posting images on Facebook calling out the Delta Foundation around their decision to invite Iggy Azalea to perform at Pittsburgh Pridefest. Hileman coordinated Pridefest organizing in the 1990’s. He agreed to answer a few questions for me. “Defending Iggy doesn’t work. Iggy Azalea has no business […]

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 […]

Five Pieces of Advice I Needed Ten Years Ago

Lesbian Avengers

What’s the one piece of advice you wish someone had given you a year (or five, or ten…) ago? I recently finished reading “Body Counts” by Sean Strub, a memoir that illuminates the cultural and political history of HIV in the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s. As soon as I finished this book, I began reading […]

I’ve Witnessed A Lot of History From This Sofa

Friday marked my 9.5 year anniversary with Ledcat, 7.5 of which we have lived together. As I type, we are watching the Inauguration from our warm living room surrounded by pet beds, Christmas lights to be untangled and … tote bags (of course.) It is fun reading the tweets and Facebook status updates from folks […]