Partner of Alleg Co Employee Speaks Out on Termination of Domestic Partner Benefits

Allegheny County Domestic Partnership

  I am scheduled for a total knee replacement 8/2014. I also need to have a hysterectomy as I have tested positive for precancerous cells and have a family history. Eileen Halloran  and her partner have been together for nearly ten years. They have 3 adult children and 2 grandchildren. Five years ago, Eileen’s partner took […]

Five Things That Never Happened In Our Community on the Fourth of July

Fourth of July

When I was a child, I kept coming across passages in books about olden times that described how Independence Day was celebrated. It was nothing like my own experience in the 1970s’ and 1980’s Pittsburgh suburb of West Mifflin. Here’s an excerpt from a particularly vivid memory – Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder From […]

UPDATED: The Loss of Another Trans Sister of Color – Tiff Edwards of Ohio

Tiffany Edwards

This has been a tough month, no doubt about it. From Repent Amarillo targeting teenaged girls to the Pittsburgh Dyke Trans March being TERFd (and possibly secretly recorded), it has been an exhausting month. But the worst has happened – a fourth trans woman of color has been found murdered, this time in Walnut Hills, […]

Ten Fabulous “Special Rights” for LGBTQ Public Employees

Special Rights Gay

In response to the conversation about domestic partner benefits from PA municipal employers such as Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh, some have raised concerns that same-sex couples will be receiving “special gay privileges” which is unfair to unmarried heterosexual employees. It is probably fair to look back into history at the civil rights movement and […]

Why the Pittsburgh Dyke Trans March Is Necessary For Survival

Pittsburgh Dyke Trans March

For 8 years, I have watched and participated in the growth of Pittsburgh’s Dyke and Trans March (formerly known as the Dyke March), an effort led by the steady and dedicated investment of Eli Kuti, a local feminist trans man. I am not an event organizer. I did not shape the mission statement and I […]

Joy KMT Speech at 2014 Pittsburgh Dyke Trans March

Joy KMT

(Published with permission from Joy KMT a featured speaker at the Pittsburgh Dyke Trans March. This may not be reprinted in any form without the explicit permission of Joy KMT.) Yesterday when I was coming back to Pittsburgh I cried. My girl asked me what was wrong, I said I didn’t want to be here. […]

Petition: Keep Domestic Partner Benefits Until PA Passes Statewide Non-Discrimination

UPDATE: Nearly 550 signatures in three days. Let’s keep this going.  UPDATE: Over 150 signatures in less than 24 hours. Will you lend your name?Allegheny County in Southwestern Pennsylvania has announced plans to eliminate domestic partner benefits for employees, effective July 31, 2014. Same sex couples who receive benefits have until that date to legally marry […]

Allegheny County Drops Domestic Partner Benefits for LGBTQ Employees

Allegheny County

In a very dismaying turn of events, Rich Fitzgerald’s County Administration has opted to drop domestic partner benefits less than two years after first extending them. The county’s benefit policy is being adjusted in response to the marriage ruling, county spokeswoman Amie Downs said in an email. “As a result of the Court’s recent decision […]

Dear Persistent Passive-Aggressive Nice Guy

Passive-Aggressive Nice Guy

UPDATE – since I wrote this post in June 2014, this man has continued making donations to all causes I post on my blog, including one this week tying my LGBTQ project to Orlando. When I shared that with people, responses varied from how important it is for me to keep writing to rationalizations. Each […]

Photos from the 2014 Pittsburgh Dyke and Trans March

Pittsburgh Dyke Trans March

Post by Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents.