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:

CultureOther

Toys For Tots Pittsburgh Distribution 2013

November 21, 2013 by

Play It Forward and Toys for Tots are open & welcoming to LGBTQ families. If you have an experience that reflects otherwise, please let me know so I can pass it along.  LGBTQ families can also approach the GLCC for some outerwear items, but no toys or gifts at this time. Note: Play It Forward […]

NaBloPoMo

My First Friend

November 21, 2013 by

The Prompts: Tell us about your first friend. And describe an outfit that makes you feel good. (It can be from any period of your life.) Double points if you post a picture of yourself in the outfit. These two prompt are interconnected for me. My first friend was Amy Koempel. She was 9 months […]

ActivismCultureNaBloPoMo

Transgender Day of Remembrance

November 20, 2013 by

Wednesday, November 20 is the Transgender Day of Remembrance.   The Transgender Day of Remembrance is held in November each year to memorializ   e those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgender, each was a victim of violence based […]

ActivismNaBloPoMo

I’m Afraid To Get Gay-Married

November 19, 2013 by

Daily Prompt: Fright Night  What’s the thing you’re most scared to do? What would it take to get you to do it? This prompt caught me off guard. I can rattle off a list of things I’m afraid of happening. I won’t because then someone who thinks I’m Satan for criticizing Billy Gardell might do them. […]

NaBloPoMo

There’s a Place for Me

November 18, 2013 by

The Prompt: Tell us about a time when you felt out of place. A few quick anecdotes. When I started graduate school at Pitt in the School of Social Work, the other students in the Community Organizing track included about a half-dozen fresh from college folks in their early 20s. There was another half-dozen or […]

NaBloPoMo

Why Ledcat Is Precious To Me

November 17, 2013 by

The Prompt: What do you love most about yourself? What do you love most about your favorite person? Are the two connected? About myself? Ha, that’s some interesting timing. This has been an intense week for me on multiple fronts and I’m not feeling much in the way of self-love. I tried all my tricks yesterday […]

NaBloPoMo

Saturday Memory: Television Series “Family”

November 16, 2013 by

Family was a groundbreaking 60 minute drama that ran from 1976-1980 on ABC. The show centered around the Lawrence Family – Kate and Doug Lawrence and their three children – Nancy, Willie and Buddy who lived the quintessential middle class life in California. The show covered some daring topics – alcoholism, dementia, divorce/infidelity and even a […]

NaBloPoMo

Five Ways to Help Someone Quit Beating Up On Themselves

November 15, 2013 by

The Prompt: If you could quit one bad habit instantly without difficulty, which would it be? Putting myself down. When you grow up in a fractured fairytale, you internalize a lot of negative messages that aren’t even necessarily about you – and when you are bullied and abused by your peers, it is worse. Not only […]

ActivismOtherPolitics

City Councilman Burgess Doesn’t Seem To Think LGBTQ Identity Reflects Diversity

November 14, 2013 by

City Councilman Ricky Burgess believes – nay, insists – that the next President of City Council be a person of color. And he’s willing to step up to the challenge.  Burgess notably the only member of that body who refuses to sign the Pridefest Proclamation because Pride is too “sexualized” has also historically  ignored the […]

ActivismCulture

CBS Program “Mike and Molly” Says F*ck You To LGBT Community

November 13, 2013 by

Last season, the hit CBS sitcom “Mike and Molly” went astray with two jokes about transgender women, specifically using the slur “shemale.” That very same weekend, a movie starring Melissa McCarthy used another slur, “tranny.” Trish provided some brilliant insight into exactly why these terms are slurs and not fodder for humor, especially on CBS […]