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.

Q&A with Esai About Her One Woman Show ‘TRANSlation’

But drag really helped me discover that I am a woman, and I started taking vocal performance a lot more seriously around age 15 with doing musical theatre, but once I reached 16, I discovered jazz and it completely changed my life, and I still do it now. Of course I still wanted to incorporate […]

Vote for #ProtectTransKids in City Paper Best of Pittsburgh Readers Poll

It is once again the time of year to cast your votes in Pittsburgh City Paper ‘Best of Pittsburgh’ Reader’s Poll. Voting Rules: You can vote once per day, per category. Some categories will contain more than 5 entrants because of Tie Votes. Best Charity Fundraiser is one that I’m personally proud of. In twelve months, […]

Two Cisgender People Killed in Separate Anti-Trans Attacks

Most just horrifying news. First from Richmond, Indiana, where a 59-year-old Black cisgender woman Michelle Dionne Peacock was killed by a neighbor wielding a blade, in part due to his perception that she was a transgender woman. From TransGriot  According to the affidavit, Tommy Wayne Earl who also confessed to the crime stated “I had […]

18-year-old Trans Male Teen Murdered in South Carolina

Jacob Williamson

For the past month and a half, Jacob Williamson had finally begun to experience his authentic life – socially transitioning and moving in with supportive friends after his own family failed to accept him. Tragically, his steps into exploring dating relationships led to the worst outcome. Jacob was murdered in South Carolina. Last seen by […]

Help Send 100 #ProtectTransKids Yard Signs to the Annual Pittsburgh Transgender Picnic in August

August 12, 2023 is the annual Pittsburgh Transgender Picnic (T-Nic) in North Park. This annual gathering brings together trans folx and allies to enjoy a cookout, potluck, some games, and spending time together. This year, the event honors the memory of Candis, one of the organizers of the first t nics. We’d like to offer […]

Finding Pride in My Disability

July is Disability Pride Month. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed on July 26, 1990, to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities. Following this legislation, Boston held the first Disability Pride Day event in July 1990 and Disability Pride Month was born. “To change the way people think about and define “disability,” to […]

Crowdfunding New Feeding Stations for #FortFaulsey Community Cats

We sponsor the #FortFaulsey community cat colony with two feeding stations –  one halfway up back alley on a friend’s property and the other in Sue and Laura’s backyard. There are about a dozen regular cats. These latest rains have just destroyed our ‘temporary’ feeding stations aka plastic bins after a punishing weather cycle simply […]

Local and National News Intersections in LGBTQ Media

News

Yesterday, someone asked me to compare my ‘national’ content to my ‘local’ blog content. I was a bit flummoxed because it rarely seems to be so neatly parsed. My life and the lives of all LGBTQIA+ folx in this region are regularly defined by the collision of the local with the national. Our lives are […]

Oh, Deer. That’s Not a Cat

deer at the cat colony

Deer readers. We are doing some fundraising for Fort Faulsey to replace the feeding stations – we hope to buy six of these amazing stations created by Feralvilla that are durable, hygenic, and safe. I’ve been looking for great clips of the colony to highlight why we need this and tonight … I had a […]

Do I want to belong to any club that would have me as a member?

“He naturally despised the Club that did take him. The members were a poor lot, many of them in the City - stockbrokers, solicitors, auctioneers - what not! Like most men of strong character but not too much originality, old Jolyon set small store by the class to which he belonged.” John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga I wasted about […]