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.
How would you describe yourself NOW in terms of “being out”? I wouldn’t say I’m fully out but I’m working on it. If I’m talking to people and they ask if I’m seeing anyone I am nervous at first to say I have a girlfriend but I do and I am proud of myself after. I need to get past my concerns on what other people think of me. I need to work on what I think of me. We are “official” on social media and both our families know also.
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Name: Ira Age: 30 County of Residence: Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: They/Them How do you describe your identity? I identify as pansexual and genderqueer, or possibly agender. I just don’t “get” gender I guess? I don’t care about it in my partners and don’t feel it applies to me personally. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? […]
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This week, City Council in Butler, Pennsylvania will vote on an ordinance to create municipal level protections for residents based on protected classes (gender, race, religion, etc) including sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. For months, members of PFLAG Butler have been working tirelessly to educate members of council and the larger community about […]
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Name: Lavi
Age: 29
County of Residence: I grew up in Greene county. I moved to Allegheny County when i was 18. Ive lived in Pittsburgh the past 11 years
Preferred Pronouns: She, her
How do you describe your identity? trans queer bi white
Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I started coming out when I was about 15 I think. At that time I found support online. There was an online community of mostly other teenage trans kids we helped each other out with what we could.
I didn’t have support from my family and local community. I felt isolated and alone. I was. I tried to run away but it didn’t work.
I came out more finally when I turned 18 and moved to Pittsburgh. It was finally a time when I could start to be myself and figure out who I am.
I still had trouble finding support. I went to transpitt but felt a big generational gap. I learned a lot tho from Nancy. I always remember her.
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It is such a fluke thing to be named the best of something that literally hundreds of other people do everyday right here in Pittsburgh. I don’t know what to say beyond thank you. Thank you for reading. Thank you for voting. Thank you for sharing our content. Thank you for supporting a blogosphere that values the voices of queer and fat and disabled female bloggers among many others.
Read all the blogs. You won’t regret it. (And read #AMPLIFY, too!)
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Name: Ciora Thomas
Age: 27
County of Residence: Allegheny
Preferred Pronouns: she/her/hers
How do you describe your identity? I’m a Bi Transwomn.
Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? My coming out experience wasn’t really a coming out more so i got caught by my step father and my family then turned on me. I found support in downtown Pittsburgh and the GLCC when it was in Squirrel Hill ran by Lyndsey Sickler. I faced many challenges the main being a homeless trans teenager.
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On Monday, we unveiled our brand new site – ta da!
It has been a six month process in partnership with Avenue Design Studios, a gay owned company here in Pittsburgh. I wanted to highlight #AMPLIFY but maintain a traditional blog format. John from Ave Designs wanted to create a design blending elements of #AMPLIFY with the traditional pghlesbian hallmarks.
We also faced the challenge of converting our first six years of archives from html to wordpress (long story.) Well, John faced that. I just wrung my hands and hoped for the best. Of course, he made it happen.
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For weeks, my head has been in a muddle over all sorts of things. I have been wanting to write a coherent explanation of why I’m supporting Hillary Clinton in this election, an urge that grows more insistent with each encounter I have with folks I know supporting Trump. But my mind is working against me as it is prone to do when I feel anxious.
So000 I’m going to share a few links with you that I hope will help you to understand where I’m at in my head. I understand the fear of neo-liberal policies is genuine and based in the worst elements of capitalism and democracy. I understand that Hillary is far from perfect, but I do think she is the most perfectly qualified woman to shatter the glass ceiling of the White House as well as the most prepared and experienced candidate for President.
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