Guest Post: Where Oh Where Has the Pittsburgh Gay Nightlife Gone?

By Jazmine Butterfly  As I was out last night I realized everything is gone! The 90s in Pittsburgh were epic! …I mean at least to me they were! There was so much TGBLQ nightlife that we had a schedule on what bars were hopin’ on any particular night.  Take for instance tonight is Thursday everybody […]

UPDATED: A List of Out LGBTQ Elected Officials in Pennsylvania: Historical Work in Progress

When I began blogging in 2005, there were no out elected officials in Pennsylvania (that I knew of.) Now there are so many that keeping track is a challenge. Hence, this list and timeline. When I am unsure of someone’s identity, I use LGBTQ. I urge you to contact me if you have corrections, edits, […]

316 Reasons to Add Your LGBTQ Story to the #AMPLIFY Archive

Since 2015, we have been collecting stories from LGBTQ folks with ties to Western Pennsylvania. Some live here now, others grew up in this region. Others still attended college or had a job that brought them here or spent summers with their grandparents in an outlying community. Here includes 26 counties in Western Pennsylvania, from […]

Temporary Move to New Blog Digs (It Ain’t Going Smoothly)

Dear readers, We are in the process of migrating our 13 years of blog content to a new webhost. Unfortunately, my current webhost has locked my domain and is unresponsive to my inquiries. I have pursued the appropriate steps to take it back into my control, but it could take awhile – up to 60 […]

RIP Chuck Tierney (March 29, 1948 – Oct. 11, 2017)

Chuck Tierney

A founding father of the regional LGBTQ community has passed, Chuck Tierney. Chuck was a 1966 graduate of Munhall High School. In 1977, Chuck purchased the legendary Holiday Bar on Forbes Avenue in Oakland, along with Chuck Honse. For 40 years, the bar played host to the city’s LGBT community and kept the secrets of […]

Get AMPLIFYed! Share Your Story During LGBTQ History Month

AMPLIFY LGBTQ

Have you been AMPLIFYed? As we head into LGBT History Month, it is the perfect reason to schedule the time to complete the AMPLIFY Q&A. The Q&A takes about 30 minutes – it covers everything from your coming out experiences to your insight on current community priorities. You have full control of what name you […]

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 […]

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 […]

NEW WAY TO ENTER! Review and Giveaway: ‘Eating Fire: My Life As a Lesbian Avenger’

Lesbian Avengers

UPDATE – I ditched Rafflecopter. To enter, just leave a comment. Make sure I can get in touch with you via your comment by linking it to your email/Facebook, etc. That’s it. Comment. (Folks who entered via Rafflecopter have had their entries transferred – no worries.) As we gear up for Pride and the 45th […]

LGBTQ History in Pittsburgh – The Election of Bill Peduto as Mayor

Last night, it was a real thrill to be standing in the crowd at the Federation of Teachers and watch as Bill Peduto was confirmed as the Democratic nominee for office of Mayor of Pittsburgh. We arrived early and I couldn’t stop smiling. It was a very unique mix of people watching the numbers on […]