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:

Activism

UPDATED One Week Left to Donate Gift Cards for LGBTQ Elders #ReachOUT

December 11, 2016 by
Persad SAGE party

We met our goal in less than 24 hours after posting this recent update! Thank you, Pittsburgh! The headline is this – we still need gift cards for some of the LGBTQ elders connected to the SAGE project with Persad Center. They are all over 55 and have little to no family support so this […]

ActivismNaBloPoMo

I am Brittle in My Anguish

December 10, 2016 by

I’ve been anxious my whole life long, but I haven’t always been afraid. There have been individual moments, of course, including my experiences with violence and assault. But what I feel now is different, dare I say more of an existential fear about my actual existence? I do not have much family. My parents and […]

ActivismPolitics

Carlisle Approves Non-Discrimination Ordinance, 37th Pennsylvania Municipality to Do So

December 9, 2016 by
Non-Discrimination Pennsylvania

On Thursday December 8, Carlisle Borough in Eastern Pennsylvania voted 5-2 to approve a local non-discrimination ordinance that includes sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as protected classes. Carlisle is the 37 municipality to take action to protect LGBTQ residents while the PA General Assembly remains unable to move forward on similar statewide legislation […]

Lesbian

Update in the Murder of Pittsburgh Lesbian Shanique Saunders

December 8, 2016 by
Shanique Saunders Pittsburgh Black Lesbian

First, a clarification – Shanique’s surname had been originally reported as Sanders. Today, I realized that the reporting was changed to Saunders. I confirmed that Saunders is the surname of her mother. I am very sorry for the error and am working to determine where the original information was sourced. I honestly don’t know how […]

AMPLIFYTrans

Ravenna, 37, Pansexual Trans Woman Living in the Allegheny County Suburbs #AMPLIFY

December 8, 2016 by

Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I came out at 26 years old. It was tough. I was on the verge of suicide and I had a 2-year-old son depending on my existence.

I dropped a bomb on my life. On relationships. It was the only way. I had no friends. Nowhere to really start. I just got myself out into the queer community. My personality aided greatly in forming my initial friendship and support base. Those early days were very lonely though.

How would you describe yourself NOW in terms of “being out”? Been living openly as a pansexual trans woman for 10 years. I’ve gone through all of the legalities and am quite open in my personal life. I do like to maintain my anonymity in my daily life. I still work where I did through my transition. Work was tough but I fought and survived the experience.

AMPLIFYTrans

Vanessa, 31, Describes Her Transition & Life as Pansexual in Washington County #AMPLIFY

December 6, 2016 by
Trans Pansexual Washington County

How would you describe yourself NOW in terms of “being out”? I carry myself allot better that i ever have before, my confidence is much greater and have gained a better sense of living. Being happy that I’m now who i am and not pretending to be someone i never was has lifted a great deal of weight off of my shoulders and has given me hope and something to look forward to.

ActivismBlogiversary

Top Things I Wish Pittsburgh’s Best Local Blogger Got To Do

December 4, 2016 by
Best Local Blogger Pittsburgh

I’ve been savoring my surprise nab of the Best Local Blogger category in the Pittsburgh City Paper’s 2016 ‘Best of Pittsburgh’ awards. By savoring, I mean that I agonized over how much I hated the accompanying photo, missed the award party because of anxiety and have awkwardly inserted the factoid into as many conversations as possible simply because Ledcat dared me to do so. I said it at least 10 times when I was in a blogging panel. Yes, I did use the phrase, “I traffic in the currency of exposure.”

ActivismNaBloPoMo

I’m Cranky, Sad and Defiant. December, Here I Come.

December 3, 2016 by

There is no opening sentence that will accurately describe my emotional mindset right now. How about “my month has been a delightful Panoply of precursors to the next four years as well as most of what’s been happening forever that I never thought about?” I started out after the election feeling numb and cutting myself […]

Activism

Owner of Giant Eagle Local Store Comments on Blog Post

December 1, 2016 by
Review of Giant Eagle Curbside Express

A few minutes ago, Marie Bricker Furlong posted a comment in response to the Giant Eagle posts. I confirmed her email address and that Marie Bricker is the owner of the Cedar Avenue location. No one has reached out to me directly to discuss either from Giant Eagle corporate or from the local independently owned […]

ActivismIn MemoriamLGBTQ

23 Year Old Black Lesbian Stud is Murdered in Pittsburgh’s Knoxville Neighborhood UPDATED

December 1, 2016 by
Pittsburgh Stud Shanique Sanders

Her name was Shanique Sanders.

Pittsburgh Stud Shanique Sanders
Shanique Sanders via Facebook
She was 23 years old and a resident of Homestead. Wednesday afternoon, she became the latest fatality in the epidemic of violence when her body was found at 1:45 PM on McKinley Street in the Knoxville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. She had been shot at least one time when she was found and transported to UPMC Mercy where she later died.

Shanique used the name Loyalty Fashigg in social media and self-identified as a stud, according to local LGBT activist Amber Sloan who was a friend and mentor to Shanique. Amber told me that Shanique was born in Garfield, grew up in Homewood and was a graduate of Westinghouse High School.