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 a Pittsburgh Dad Trying to Protect His Multiracial, LGBTQ Family From an Abusive Neighbor

Content Note: racism, transphobia, homophobia, harassment of children, police, legal case, fear I did a little research and started to get a sense of how these transphobic bigots operate, the playbook they use. These people are truly despicable. To answer your question, no, I don’t think people connect the dots. And that’s not a condemnation, […]

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Siamese Cats, Baby

Siamese Cats, Baby

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Q&A With Solo Mobile Detail – Bringing the Magic of Detailing to Your Driveway

Solo Mobile Detail

My wife’s favorite hobby is complaining about the dust and crud that accumulates in our car, a Kia Soul. She completely blames me for 1) cats 2) eating/drinking in the car and 3) leaving footprints on the glove box when I cross my legs. I feel unfairly maligned, so it was a stroke of luck […]

Pride Anxiety

Pride Anxiety

Today is Pride. We had plans to go with a friend to see the parade and walk around the festival. Then the thoughts crept into my mind. Last night, I was fretting about the hill we’d have to walk up from our car to the festival. What if I couldn’t climb the hill? What if […]

Curating This Updated List of Openly LGBTQ Elected Officials in Pennsylvania

When I began blogging in 2005, there were no out elected officials in Pennsylvania (that I knew of.) Now there are so many that keeping track is a challenge. Hence, this list and timeline. When I am unsure of someone’s identity, I use LGBTQ. I urge you to contact me if you have corrections, edits, […]

#LGBTQFamiliesDay – Being the Adult I Needed in My Own Childhood

Our LGBTQ family centers on our marriage family – me and Ledcat. It also has a strong tie to our role as aunts to our six niblings (gender neutral term for niece/nephew.) We are involved in the lives of four, but I always remember the other two who don’t live nearby and think of them […]

Waiting on (Another) COVID-19 Test

I can’t remember how many times I’ve been tested for COVID-19, but I’ve always been negative. Right now, I’m waiting for my latest results to return and sitting with this uncomfortable sense of “what if?” playing out in my mind. Last Saturday, Laura and I were both exposed to someone whose family member tested positive […]

This Lesbian Blogger is Throwing Out the First Pitch for Pride Night at PNC Park June 2022

Pride Night at PNC Park

This is a story. After I won the 2022 Outstanding Blog award from the GLAAD awards earlier this month, the Pirates congratulated me and said that they would like to acknowledge this achievement in their upcoming plans for Pride Night at PNC Park. I was pleased, of course, assuming they would probably make a quick […]

When Housekeeping Services are Ableist and Traumatizing #MentalHealthAwareness

Mental health Awareness Month Anxiety

I’m continually amazed how using social media to find a housekeeping service ends up being an exercise in disrespect and dismissive futility. My most recent provider does not have staff who are vaccinated so we cannot work with them any longer. It was an amicable parting, but now I’m back in the jungle looking for […]