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.

Q&A with Jessica Benham, Candidate for PA State House District 36

Jessica Benham

The residents of district 36 deserve a solution to the flooding that impacts their daily lives. They are tired of constant studies and plans that don’t materialize. We are revisiting our Political Q&A series for the upcoming elections of 2020. We’ve reached out to candidates who are pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ, asking them a series of […]

Introducing Our New Foster Kittens, Stefano DiMeowa and Spencer Cattsadine #PghCatLadies

Foster Kittens Pittsburgh

Today has been a big, exhausting day for me. For the past few weeks, I’ve been helping some Northside neighbors who have a small feral colony made up of Papa, Mama, and two kittens. They’ve provided a heated shelter and regular food, they wanted to try to find homes for the kittens and TNR the […]

Fish Fry Friday: Riverview Presbyterian Church on Pittsburgh’s Northside

Fish Fry Reviews Grand Jury Report

Welcome to Fish Fry Fridays, 2020 Edition! Click here to learn more about this project, now in its 7th year of providing you absolutely biased reviews of fish fries throughout Pittsburgh. Name: Riverview Presbyterian Church Date: February 28, 2020 Time We Ate: 5:26 PM Random review of #fishburgh adventures during Lent. Find a fish fry on this […]

Q&A with Emily Kinkead, Candidate for PA State House District 20

Emily Kinkead

I make a concerted effort to inform myself about the LGBTQIA+-related issues in my district and in our community and the events that I can attend to demonstrate my support. This spans everything from talking to my queer-identifying friends and activists about their experiences to attending the Trans Day of Remembrance and the protest at […]

The Time a Lesbian Democrat Shamed Me for Being a Disabled Person With Cats

Kittens Instagram

A few days ago, a person whom I know only through social media and a few mutual friends decided to leave a comment on an Instagram post I had shared – a photo of some of our resident cats and foster kittens eating dinner together. Her comment was a disproportionate reaction to  few cat hashtags. […]

Ross Township Commissioner and ACDC Committee Member Patrick Mullin Sharing anti-LGBTQ, welfare-shaming content on Facebook

Content note – homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism, Allegheny County Democrats, suburban life, ageism, welfare shaming Also please note the original version of the essay contained a pivotal typographical error. That has been corrected. People are sending me Trump social media content shared by other ACDC members. This one gets to me. Patrick Mullin holds two […]

Should You Send Me Screen Shots of Your ACDC Members Pro-Trump Social Media Content?

ACDC Trump Supporter Files

Soon after I published the post yesterday with 40 pro-Trump/MAGA images shared by Allegheny County Democratic Committee member and ward chair, Jeff ‘Bean’ Anesin, the tips about other members hit my inbox. It is important to create a repository to illustrate that the magnitude of the members of the local Democratic Committee and the Democratic […]

2 Northside Kittens, Mama and Papa Need Urgent Help

We need to raise funds lickety split to TNR two kittens known as Annie and Kitty, plus their parents. There’s a slight window to get the kittens into foster care to be socialized, but it’s closing daily. Any amount will help. More details below. It literally never ends. But TNR means it slows down. We […]

Proof that Allegheny County Democratic Committee Members Support Trump

Allegheny County Democrats

Content Note: racism, misogyny, misogynoir, ableism, sexism, homophobia, pro-Trump content, xenophobia, sexualizing young girls, Democrats, politicians Recently, several local media outlets have disclosed social media content posted, mainly on Facebook, by a ward chair of the Allegheny County Democrat Committee, Jeff ‘Bean’ Anesin. While a few of the posts suggest that Anesin is a Trump […]

#SteelCitySnowflake Q&A with Tereneh Idia

Tereneh Idia Steel City Snowflakes

As part of our #SteelCitySnowflakes project, we are highlighting neighbors who contribute to the social justice fabric in our communities. Our very first snowflake profiles Tereneh Idia who sets the bar high for this work by thoughtfully assessing the concept. I personally think her feedback is vital and appreciate being in community with her.  Thank […]