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:

In MemoriamTrans

31-year-old Trans Woman Nikki Turrietta Killed Dec 31, Now Identified in Albuquerque, New Mexico

January 28, 2022 by

Nikki Turrietta was a 31-year-old trans woman living in Albuquerquee, New Mexico. She was found shot to death on December 31, 2021, but misgendering delayed notification of the community. Born and raised in Albuquerque, she attended Rio Grande High School and Amy Biehl High School, and studied at the University of New Mexico. When correcting […]

Pittsburgh Cat Ladies

Help Keep Outside Kitties Warm and Comfy

January 27, 2022 by

We have a very specific need at the Fort Faulsey colony, if you are feeling an impulse to help animals. Our cats have shelters stuffed with straw, feeding stations that use heated discs to keep the water from freezing over and the food as well. When it is dry, the cats stretch out on the […]

SportsTraumaYouth

Sled Riding the Pipeline in West Mifflin

January 26, 2022 by
Sled Riding in the 1970s

And though he never would wave goodbyeYou could see it written in his eyesAs the train rolled out of sightBye-bye In this cold snap, I drive to my cat colony even though it is faster to walk. Not so much faster now sliding on the snow and exerting myself to get the gate unlocked and […]

ActivismLGBTQ

Call To Action: Stop Chambersburg from Repealing Local Non-Discrimination Ordinance

January 23, 2022 by

The newly elected Borough Council in Chambersburg plans to vote on Monday, January 24 to repeal a local non-discrimination ordinance just four months after it was enacted. From PennLive The ordinance, which extends protections against discrimination to gay, transgender or genderqueer people in employment, housing and public accommodations, was passed in October by the then-Democratic […]

ActivismPoliticsYouth

PYC Statement on Former LGBTQ Nonprofit Leader John Dawe’s Sentencing for Sexual Abuse

January 21, 2022 by

I am glad to see the Pennsylvania Youth Congress coming forward with a clear, concise record of their efforts to hold sexual predator John Dawe and the LGBTQ adults who enabled him accountable for sexual violence inflicted on our youth. This has been known for years. These organizations are no better than the Catholic Church […]

ActivismEconomyHealthJobs

How Starbucks Helped Me Endure the Pandemic. Until Now.

January 20, 2022 by

I used to smirk at people who sat in line, engines idling, for long periods of time at a local Starbucks. I could park, go in, place my order, use the bathroom, collect my order, and walk out while they sat there just waiting. My wife and I spent a lot of time at Starbucks. […]

Activism

Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ Blog Nominated Five Consecutive Years for GLAAD Awards as ‘Outstanding Blog’

January 19, 2022 by
Outstanding Blog GLAAD awards

This is pretty nifty, as they say – our blog has been nominated five consecutive years (2018-2022) in the Outstanding Blog category of the national GLAAD Media Awards. We won the category in 2019. And our work is valued enough that we’ve been back multiple times. The category is competitive and I’m honored to be amongst […]

ActivismYouth

Watch: Yolanda Renee King, MLK’s granddaughter, talks with Rev Al Sharpton about her activism

January 17, 2022 by

The best thing of the weekend was this exchange. When Yolanda Renee King said “Hi Uncle Al, thank you for having me on your show,” my heart swelled. Reverend Al Sharpton is an emotionally accessible man and journalist, but this was a new level of how generations fuel each other. Watching both of them smile […]

Entertainment and MediaPets

I Watched ‘The Tragedy of MacBeth’ With My Cats

January 16, 2022 by

I can’t recall the last time I watched a performance of MacBeth and Laura has never seen it before so this was a good way to spend our Saturday evening. With cats. Sharing the screen are some of our foster kittens and some of our resident critters. The seal-tipped Siamese kitten is six month old […]

ActivismRacial JusticeSports

Here You Go, Steelers

January 16, 2022 by
Steelers Fight Song

I am not a fan of the Steelers, most specifically because of Ben Roethlisberger’s history as a sexual predator and the team’s embrace of the ‘he found Jesus/wife/kids’ solution to the fallout. I’ve been quite glad to see that amidst all of the hoopla about his retirement, the stories of his sexual violence are still […]