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:

Main PageMarriagePolitics

Hurrah for Dana Elmendorf!

April 24, 2006 by
Hurrah for Dana Elmendorf!

Local gay advocate Dana Elmendorf asks Pennsylvania to consider why Darryl Metcalfe and his band of merry men are rushing the marriage protection amendment to the House floor?  This was in the PG. UPDATE  11:27 AM:  And this was in Friday's Tribune Review.  Good job Dana!

Main PageRene PortlandSports

Post Gazette Applauds Penn State Stance on Rene Portland

April 24, 2006 by

  The Post-Gazette Editors have spoken — (emphasis mine) We applaud university President Graham Spanier for upping the penalty from the initially suggested and insultingly negligible one-game suspension to a $10,000 fine. Perhaps the punishment should have been more severe. Had she discriminated against a player on the basis of race or ethnicity, she'd likely […]

Faith and ReligionMain PagePolitics

More on Nigerian Gay Hate Bill

April 24, 2006 by
More on Nigerian Gay Hate Bill

From Black Looks and Feministing comes this update on the Nigerian legislation criminalizing homosexuality (you'll recall the PG op-ed discussion on this issue). The Nigerian homosexuality bill, the “Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, 2006” which was presented to the House on the 31st March has now had its first reading in the Senate. A report […]

Main PageMarriage

Do local politicans read the Post-Gazette?

April 23, 2006 by

By my count, the Post-Gazette has published 11 letters to the editor on the topic of the anti-gay marriage amendment making its way through the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.  Prior to these letters, the PG featured two op-ed pieces on the same topic.  The pro-amendment position came from sponsor, Darryl Metcalfe.  The anti-amendment position came from […]

Main Page

Tribune Review – Metcalfe's "Marriage Amendment" Unnecessary

April 23, 2006 by
Tribune Review – Metcalfe's "Marriage Amendment" Unnecessary

Tribune Review colunist Eric Heyl has coined a new verb.  To “Metcalf” is to “wantonly engage in acts of stupefying redundancy.” Heyl goes right for the political jugular Regardless of your opinion on same-sex marriage, know this about Metcalfe's anti-brokeback bill: It is entirely unnecessary, as superfluous and manipulative a piece of legislation as you […]

Main PageRene PortlandSports

More sports folks weigh in on Rene Portland's gay bashing

April 23, 2006 by

From Sunday's Post-Gazette, sports colunist Ron Cook calls for Rene Portland to be fired. What in the world is the Penn State administration thinking by allowing Portland to stay on as coach after its half-year internal investigation determined she created a “hostile, intimidating and offensive environment” for at least one of her players whom she […]

Main PageRandom Thoughts

PG Columnist Catherine Specter Continues to Demean Readers

April 23, 2006 by
PG Columnist Catherine Specter Continues to Demean Readers

For the past two weeks, I haven't found anything worth commenting about in the Post-Gazette's “Just Ask Cat” column, a quasi-advice section penned by Catherine Specter.  Specter is the genetic mutation of Harriet Nelson and Carrie Bradshaw, minus the cool hair.  Why does it bother me so?  One need only turn to the back of […]

Main PageSports

Rene Portland – What the Local Media Has Been Saying

April 22, 2006 by
Rene Portland – What the Local Media Has Been Saying

You know Rene Portland is not my favorite person.  She is found guilty of discriminating against lesbians (or perceived lesbians) and Penn State gives her a little slap on the wrist.  As the Trib reports, Penn State is clearly responsible for “creating Rene Portland and allowing her to get away with this” per Jennifer Harris […]

Main PageMarriage

Let's hear it for Heather from Shaler!

April 22, 2006 by

Today, Heather Chirdon of Shaler takes Concerned Women for America to task for their support of the marriage amendment.  The notion of bringing the gay marriage amendment to a referendum vote is laughable. As a woman I feel it is my duty to remind her that the vote she would like to use is the […]

Faith and ReligionMain Page

PG article on Presbyterian Homophobia confuses Correspondent

April 22, 2006 by
PG article on Presbyterian Homophobia confuses Correspondent

In today's PG, Ann Rodgers reports on the Pittsburgh Presbytery's decision to keep homonegative language in a document that underscores anti-LGBT ordination.  I get that the majority of Presbyterian voters decided that this language is okay with them, even when challenged to reflect on whether this language truly represents the church.  What language?  Here's a bit: […]