Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Here are the LGBTQ related links we’ve been reading this past week. Let us know what we missed.

Christopher Dixon, 24, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and Mission One Educational Services, claiming he was not given paid shifts due to his sexual orientation. Dixon is a gay man.

Chris Potter at the Post-Gazette had the chance to interview the Human Rights Campaign about a phone survey. The HRC is bombastically enthusiastic about the status quo in Pennsylvania. Potter does hone in on a key fact – the survey did not address what is termed ‘the bathroom bills’ regarding Pennsylvania’s tolerance for transgender and gender nonconforming people using bathrooms. Pennsylvania wants to keep potties and pastries LGBTQ free, it seems, but they don’t think we should lose our jobs. Well …

Again from the Post-Gazette, a study documents how pervasive homelessness is for youth. One in ten. One in ten.

When Baillet came out as gay to his mother at 17, she told him he could no longer live at home. So he went to his bedroom and packed a duffel bag, unsure of where he would go.

“I had to turn to the streets,” Baillet said. “I stayed around with family and friends, just couch surfing as much as I could.”

But it didn’t stop him from graduating from high school and ending up in college, where he finished early and took a teaching job in Indianapolis. But his housing situation fell through. Broke and unsure of where to go, he first considered staying in a shelter, but it felt unsafe. So he slept in his car.

Baillet works as a supervisor at an urgent care clinic in Columbus, Ohio, where he grew up. He volunteers at a homeless shelter. He said that many of the short-term solutions for homelessness are geared toward older men and that shelters can be unsafe and uncomfortable places for homeless youth.

The Pittsburgh Catholic summarized a conversation where young people voiced concerns about church teaching on LGBTQ matters and abortion to the Bishop. His response was pretty much what you’d expect.

The Post-Gazette reran this piece from The Washington Post: We white Christian evangelicals are our own worst enemy

Word is getting out that Amazon might only consider states that are welcoming and affirming to LGBTQ people. And Pennsylvania is not. I think it would be tremendous if Amazon followed this through. Maybe state leaders would come to their senses and maybe municipalities in Southwestern PA would get to work on local ordinances. There has been zero trickle out from Pittsburgh over the past 20 years so it is time to try a new approach. I’m veering into too much commentary here. Save that for another post o this topic because there’s definitely more to the story of Pittsburgh, LGBTQ equality, and Amazon.

The New Pittsburgh Courier ran a piece ‘Tis the season to remain woke’ which is a message from the leader of the National Urban League.

Over at the City Paper, Charlie Deitch agrees with Daryl Metcalfe and apparently discovered the beauty of the GIF at the same time  🙂

And there’s this – Pittsburgh City Paper resolutions for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Daryl Metcalfe and Tom Wolf 

U.S. Mennonites split up over same-sex ‘marriage’ (link takes you to a rightwing pro-life site, but the story out of Lancaster is interesting)

In Erie, Pennsylvania, Tyler Titus was elected to the city’s school board, making him the first openly transgender person ever to hold office in the state.  And this made several LGBTQ round-up posts. 

OUT Sports has the scoop on how three Steelers would feel about a gay teammate – Ben Roethlisberger, Landry Jones, and Justin Hunter all agree that they would be fine working with a gay colleague if he could do the job. No comment from Coach Mike Tomlin.