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.

Coroner Reports Death of Black Trans Woman Elisha Stanley was Accidental

Elisha Stanley Cause of Death

Earlier this year, we reported on the September 16 death of 46-year-old Pittsburgh native, Elisha Stanley, who had traveled to her hometown to visit family. Elisha was a Black trans woman and her death was sudden and unexpected so understandably people were very concerned both for the loss of her as an individual and the […]

Transgender Day of Remembrance

How ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ shapes my perspective of my 2x great-grandmothers

2x great grandmothers

Over a year ago, I took on a daunting task of blogging about the lives of my eight 2x-great grandmothers (2gg’s) aka the grandmothers of my own grandparents I have four grandparents, they each had two and that equals eight. Technically, I also had three step-2x-great-grandmothers who were the second spouses of my male ancestors, […]

Q&A: Crafters with activist leanings will be at Pittsburgh’s first holiday Craftivist markeplace

Craftivist Pittsburgh

Joining the annual array of holiday craft shows is a brand-new entry – Craftivists. On Saturday, November 30, 2019 at 11 AM – 4 PM, you’ll find an array of socially conscious crafters exhibiting at The Union Project in the East End. We are pleased to be the social media sponsor for this intriguing new […]

Win a free download of Halsey’s “Graveyard” (Axwell Remix)!

Halsey giveaway

Enter now to win a free download of “Graveyard” (Axwell Remix), based on the hit single featured on the forthcoming album Manic from multi-platinum artist Halsey. Download/stream “Graveyard” (Axwell Remix): https://halsey.lnk.to/graveyardaxwell Manic is available for pre-order NOW: https://halsey.lnk.to/manicthealbumPR Facebook.com/halseymusic Twitter.com/halsey Instagram.com/iamhalsey Rulez To be eligible you must be 18 and live in the continental US. You may enter as many giveaways […]

My Pittsburgh Basket #NaBloPoMo2019 #NaBloPoMoPgh

The Prompt – You are packing a Pittsburgh box for someone who has moved away. Describe what you include and why. My box would include Yinz is a Gender Neutral Pronoun shirt from Etna Print Circus A piece of slag from Brown’sDump Locally roasted and ground coffee from Eat n Park and Coffee Tree Roasters […]

Rural PA LGBTQ&A with West Branch Pride Organizers in Williamsport, Lycoming County

West Branch Susquehanna River Pride

This is part of a new occasional series exploring LGBTQ organizing in rural Pennsylvania communities. After our recent driving trip through the PA Wilds communities, I was impressed that after an almost complete lack of queer visibility, a slew of new LGBTQ projects unfolded in my feed – a Pride event in Elk County, a […]

I’ve never been to Pittsburgh

The Prompt – There are 90 neighborhoods in Pittsburgh and 130 municipalities in Allegheny County. Tell us about one of each that you’ve never visited. And about one of each that you absolutely adore. I’ve never knowingly been to Esplen or Oakwood or St. Clair in the City of Pittsburgh. In Allegheny County, I’ve never […]

Where is your coat? #NaBloPoMo2019 #NaBloPoMoPgh

Hallloween costumes

The Prompt – How often did you have to wear a coat with your Halloween costume? Should this be a dealbreaker? It was hit or miss. As I got older, I tried to lean into costumes that were inherently weather flexible. One year, my Dad made me a costume that allowed me to wear a […]

82 Trans Stories from Western Pennsylvania Honor Trans Awareness Week

Transgender Awareness Week

The week before Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, we have Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility of transgender people and address issues the community faces. I’ve curated 82 stories from our #AMPLIFY project to illustrate the multi-faceted experiences of transgender neighbors in Western Pennsylvania. Our project asks people to describe their […]