Sue

Sue is the founder of Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents blog, established in 2005.. She has an MSW from the University in Pittsburgh and a BA in Political Science from Marymount University. Her undergraduate claim to fame is a six month stint as an intern with then Congressman Rick Santorum in 1991. Born and raised in West Mifflin, Sue attended college in Washington DC, then graduate school in Louisiana and ended up in Kentucky doing social service ministry. She returned to Pittsburgh in 1997. She now lives on Pittsburgh’s Northside with her wife, Laura. She was among the first out LGBTQ people named to Pittsburgh’s 40 Under 40 in 2004 and is a graduate of Leadership Development Initiative Class VII. After being fully and permanently disabled in 2010, Sue has continued to serve the community. She founded the Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project to address hunger and environmental issues. In 2015, she launched the #AMPLIFY LGBTQ archive in conjunction with a two-year artist in residence stint with Most Wanted Fine Art. Sue and her wife have fostered over 25 kittens through Pittsburgh CAT and Homeless Cat Management Team, and now manage multiple community cat colonies in their neighborhood. In 2020, Sue cofounded the Pittsburgh MasQUe ProjecT to support the queer and trans community during the pandemic, distributing tens of thousands of face masks and other supplies throughout the region. In 2021, Sue created the #PghCatFolx projects to support neighbors working with community cats. Under that heading came the Dr. John P. Ruffing DVM Pet Food Projects, memorializing one of her very best friends who died in 2007. In 2021, Sue worked with community leaders to develop and establish a 501c3 nonprofit organization, Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities (PLC) where she currently serves as Board President. PLC absorbed the #PghCatFolx projects. Also in 2021, Sue was the first person in history appointed to the City of Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ Commission and was unanimously elected as one of three inaugural co-chairs. Her blogging has garnered numerous awards Favorite GLBT Media Publication - 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 (Keystone Alliance Gaylife Newsletter Reader’s Poll) Favorite GLBT Social Media - 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 (Keystone Alliance Gaylife Newsletter Reader’s Poll) Best Local Blogger - 2016, 2019 (Pittsburgh City Paper Reader’s Poll) LGBTQIA Pittsburgh’s Best Blogger - 2020 (SisTersPgh, People’s Pride of Pittsburgh) Outstanding Blog - 2019, 2022 (GLAAD Media Awards) Sue has also personally been honored Person of the Year - The Advocate Magazine, 2022 15 Lesbian Icons - LGBTQ Nation, 2023 LGBTQIA Pittsburgh’s Best Lesbian Activist - SisTersPgh, People’s Pride of Pittsburgh 2022 Sue believes in identifying and filling gaps in supports & services rather than recreating the wheel. She uses both her undergraduate and graduate degrees on a regular basis as a blogger and activist and regularly circulates her 1991 internship photo just to shake things up on her social media feeds. Her own experiences with cPTSD, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and other health challenges have fueled her health blogging and activism. She also writes extensively about her family history, drawing on her amateur genealogy hobby. The blog regularly reviews arts and cultural events as well as exploring restaurants, soap opera storylines, and hyper-local news. Sue and her wife Laura have been together since 2003. They were married on a very cold February 2, 2021 in their backyard at a very small ceremony co-officiated by their pagan priestess friend, Anne, and then-Mayor Bill Peduto. They have six niblings, four in Pittsburgh and two in Philadelphia.

Posts by Sue:

ActivismHealthPetsPolitics

On Day 199, I Made a post-Election Appointment

September 24, 2020 by

I had an appointment with my psychiatrist today. We confirmed some previously discussed medication changes, nixing one and tweeking another. I have to titrate up every two weeks by 25 mg from 25 mg to eventually 200 mg. She asked to see me again at the halfway point and I was quiet when I realized […]

Random Thoughts

Dear David, September 24, 2020

September 24, 2020 by
David DeAngelo Pittsburgh

Dear David, The world has changed since I last wrote to you. Who would have thought? Sigh. We’ve been to Antney’s at least once since then, maybe twice. We’ve learned to go right at 5 PM when they open and there’s no line. I’ve been sticking to pretty basic flavors for some reason although I […]

GayPoliticsQ&A

Q&A Election 2020: Nat Yap, Political Activist with the Order of the Phoenix

September 23, 2020 by
Nat Yap Pennsylvania Democrat

This is a new limited-Q&A series focusing on Election Day. I’ve approached an array of regional folks to ask them the same seven questions about the election. This election is complicated in ways we never thought possible, but there are paths forward. Listening to what our neighbors are prioritizing and how they are framing the […]

BisexualPoliticsQ&A

Q&A Election 2020: staci backauskas Founder, The Haiku Ninja Collective

September 22, 2020 by
Allegheny Bisexual

This is a new limited-Q&A series focusing on Election Day. I’ve approached an array of regional folks to ask them the same seven questions about the election. This election is complicated in ways we never thought possible, but there are paths forward. Listening to what our neighbors are prioritizing and how they are framing the […]

AMPLIFYBisexualPansexual

82 Bi+ Stories From Western Pennsylvania to Honor Bisexual Visibility Day

September 22, 2020 by
Bisexual Pittsburgh

Since 1999 we have honored and acknowledged the bi+ community. Bisexual+ Awareness Week seeks to accelerate acceptance of the bi+ (pansexual, fluid, no label, queer, etc.) community. #BiWeek draws attention to the experiences, while also celebrating the resiliency of, the bisexual+ community. Throughout #BiWeek, allies and bi+ people learn about the history, culture, community, and […]

EducationHealthQ&A

Q&A: Dr. Heather Johnson on How Our Feelings About Math Shape Our Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

September 21, 2020 by

Keeping distance from people on a day to day basis is new. I understand how long 6 feet is. It’s different from getting a feel for what keeping a 6 feet distance means. To keep our distance, we have to pay attention to people around us. It adds one more thing in a time when […]

GayPoliticsQ&ARacial Justice

Q&A Election 2020: Terrance McGeorge of Project Matters

September 20, 2020 by
Terrance McGeorge Pittsburgh

This is a new limited-Q&A series focusing on Election Day. I’ve approached an array of regional folks to ask them the same seven questions about the election. This election is complicated in ways we never thought possible, but there are paths forward. Listening to what our neighbors are prioritizing and how they are framing the […]

Random Thoughts

On Day 194, I’m Edgy

September 19, 2020 by

Content Note: sexual violence That’s an understatement. On Monday, I’m planning to use EMDR tools to begin working on some new information. The world is on fire, but I’m sticking with the plan. The new information isn’t actually new – I have attachment challenges, not the least was due to bonding with a substitute caretaker […]

Faith and Religion

The Mysterious Bog People exhibit haunts me years later

September 16, 2020 by

I remember most vividly aoproaching her reconstructed image with the resonating moaning of the music imprinting in my brain. She is known as Yde Girl. She came to Pittsburgh via the Carnegie Museums in 2005. I never thought of myself as descendants from Iron Age peat harvesters. Maybe I’m enamored because this child looks just […]

Random Thoughts

50

September 15, 2020 by

I just read a line in a crime novel on my Kindle app. In just three years, he’d turn fifty, one of life’s greatest milestones. The protagonist is a woman, making a note about her husband. It isn’t really relevant to the plot, except to give context to their good relationship. I’m turning 50 on […]