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:

Family

My Dear John Letter

November 9, 2015 by
Dr. John Ruffing

Dear John, This terrible day is here again – eight years ago, you died. You were 41. And you died. Eight years are a long time. I find that now when I think of you, my first thoughts aren’t of that day. Instead, I think about when we first met and the times you took […]

The Arts

The Art of Blogging

November 6, 2015 by

This is my exhibit at The Art of Blogging

ActivismAMPLIFYQueerTrans

Kaley is Trans, Queer and a Fan of Gender Outlaws

November 6, 2015 by
Transgender Beaver County

Please note that this is our 70th published AMPLIFY q&a since we began in late May 2015. Thank you to Kaley and everyone who has shared their story. Name: Kaley Age: 30 County of Residence: Allegheny, Grew Up in Butler County Preferred Pronouns: she/her How do you describe your identity?  I am first a human being, then a woman, […]

The Arts

The Art of Blogging: A Group Exhibit at Most Wanted Fine Art

November 6, 2015 by
Most Wanted Fine Art Resident Artist

I’m pleased and a bit nervous to be part of my first group art show. It opens Friday during the November Unblurred Art Crawl along the Penn Avenue Arts Corridor in Garfield. The host gallery is Most Wanted Fine Art. Nine artists are participating. A group exhibit exploring blogging as an art form and the […]

ActivismAMPLIFYLGBTQ

Shaquanna Wants Families To Have Positive Conversations With LGBTQ Relatives #AMPLIFY

November 4, 2015 by
Pittsburgh Lesbian

Name:  Shaquanna Age: 32 County of Residence:  Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: Female How do you describe your identity? Organic!  Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face?   Being the oldest sister of three sisters, I grew up in a household where it was okay to voice your opinion, and speak […]

ActivismSocial Media

Bill Toland Invented the Burghosphere, But I Just Owned It

November 3, 2015 by
Burghosphere

Why do you blog? ~ Daily Prompt Sunday was the launch of the first ever ‘Best of the Burghosphere‘ awards.  25 bloggers created unique award categories for their colleagues. We ended up with 27 awards because of some duplication errors on my part during the organizing, but no one objected. And we’ll celebrate with two […]

ActivismLGBTQQueer

Alec on Being Genderfluid: It’s Confusing Outside the Binary #AMPLIFY

November 2, 2015 by

Name: Alec Age: 25 County of Residence: Allegheny County, grew up in Jefferson County Preferred Pronouns: I’ve been defaulting to “she” and “her”, but “he” and “him” are usually ok too How do you describe your identity? I am a human being, who is attracted to other human beings. I identify as Genderfluid. Gender is a social construct and I don’t […]

ActivismCultureSponsored Events

Good Grief! Joe Wos Won a Blog Award

November 1, 2015 by

  If I was asked to define what makes a blog great, I would respond that it is both content and layout/design. Nothing is more important than solid content. You want to engage your readers and keep them returning. Content is key. But layout and design matter as well. You don’t have to use a […]

ActivismAMPLIFYBisexualQueer

Raven Has Not Told Anyone That She’s Pansexual Because She’s Afraid #AMPLIFY

October 30, 2015 by
Washington County

Name:  Raven Age: 24 County of Residence: Washington Preferred Pronouns: she/her How do you describe your identity? I am pansexual. Once I did more reading into bisexuality, I realized I am attracted to everyone, every gender, every sex. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I have only come out as […]

Activism

The Questions We Should Be Asking About The Delta Foundation

October 29, 2015 by
Blog Update

Editor’s Note – Five years after publication of this blog post, we were requested to remove the name of someone mentioned. Typically, I would not remove content, but given the increasing incidents of hate crimes and violence targeting the LGBTQIA community, it felt like the right thing to do. I am writing this to explain […]