Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

It has been a busy Pride season for us. In less than two weeks time, we:

• recorded a segment for ‘Burgh Vivant
• recorded a segment for Into Pittsburgh
• co-facilitated the first local workshop on LGBTQ media issues
• raised more than $1,000 to support the Peoples Pride March 2K17
• spoke with reporters at The Daily Dot, The Post-Gazette and Public Source about Pride
• set up a shared exhibit for the GLCC’s ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ Pride Art Crawl
• wrote 17 blog posts
• put purple streaks in my hair. well, ok, that was a fun experience, but still a looooong one

But we had a big fun project, too, when we repainted my art car known as ‘The Cat Car’ which promotes the AMPLIFY Project. We set up an art car exhibit at Pride on the Square in a nice shady nook of Market Square. Team Most Wanted Fine Art brought along four other art cars to lend their ‘brand credibility’ as long-time allies to the LGBTQ community and LGBTQ community artists in particular.

And they went to work on the Cat Car which was first painted about a year ago. It need some fine touchups as well as some new twists and turns.

One of my favorite moments after arriving was a dude walking through Market Square towards the Arts Festival. He said to his buddy “Hey, look they’ve got pink pizza slices painted on the tires of that car.”

I mean … pink pizza slices? That’s a new one.

Artist Kai Devenitch (l) and Jason Sauer (r) spent five hours repainting the car.

This was made possible by generous donors who saw my plea on Facebook and responded. Your support makes it possible to compensate artists like Jason and Kai who invest in the project with their creative skills and so much more. A huge thanks to Vanessa German, Sam Laffey, James Street Gastropub, Ben S., Porter Love Creative, PK, Maggie R and everyone else who donated to make this happen.

They spent five hours on an 85+ degree day (their day off) at this event. Their families came by so Jason set up a swing and a picnic table for the kids. We had coloring pages, lots of conversations and no pink pizza.

Finally, my favorite addition … the roof paint job.

Just this morning, I received an invitation to speak to the Democratic Committee in Elk County in the fall. Members are concerned that LGBTQ residents don’t have supports and are leaving for pinker pastures. I’m going to take the CatCar. I’m going to take pink triangles and drive through Elk County and Forest County and Cameron County to show people that they are seen and they can be heard via The AMPLIFY Project.

Because the car will need an annual touch up (paint chips and peels), we hope to return annually to Pride on the Square as long as there is a Cat Car.

With your help, we can continue this important work. You can make a one-time donation or commit to a monthly pledge to sustain our work.