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:

ActivismPoliticsQ&ARacial JusticeSexTrans

Maria Montaño Challenges Social Norms, Political Structures as ‘Best Thirst Trap’ Nominee in Pgh City Paper Best of Pittsburgh Awards

July 5, 2021 by

For so long, trans women and our bodies have been sold as objects under capitalism. This has led to our marginalization – and the belief that we are nothing but sexual deviants is directly related to the way we are demonized by so many. Capitalism has deprived us of our humanity, and our own sexual […]

AdvocacyCulture

What We Get Wrong About “Independence Day”

July 3, 2021 by
Martina McBride

Some folks whispered and some folks talked But everybody looked the other way And when time ran out there was no one about On Independence Day. Each year, I listen to Martina McBride’s song ‘Independence Day’ to honor the Fourth of July. There are some good lyrics and wordplay fusing our national independence themes with […]

Pride Fest

How do you queer outreach?

July 1, 2021 by

I’ve been a bit busy this month with the #ManchesterCatTrap project so I didn’t participate in any Pride activities, until the end when I had the opportunity to say something. So I did. First was the chance to write an essay for PublicSource ‘Right kind of gay, wrong kind of queer’: Navigating LGBTQ discrimination in Pennsylvania […]

ActivismRacial JusticeTrans

SisTers PGH to protest Black trans exclusion from Sen. Casey’s Pride Month celebration.

June 29, 2021 by

For previous Bob Casey inclusion issues, check out this 2017 post I wrote. Senator Bob Casey Excludes Black Trans Voices From Pride Event 6/29/2021 This afternoon, Sen. Bob Casey will be hosting a Pride Month celebration featuring special guest and hometown icon Billy Porter, among others. Panelists at this event are supposed to be discussing […]

ActivismSports

Pittsburgh Pirates Wrap Up Pride Month With Fireworks and Homophobic Country Music Artists

June 27, 2021 by

The very same week that we witnessed two huge acknowledgements from professional athletes of their status as gay folx. The very same week, the Pittsburgh Pirates social media team decided to laud their upcoming fan concert this Thursday, July 1, 2021 featuring known homophobe and anti-vaxxer, John Rich of Big & Rich. Let’s go bucs? […]

ActivismRacial Justice

UpStairs Lounge, Pulse Nightclub, and 941 Saloon – Intersections of Racial Justice, Trauma, and Identity

June 25, 2021 by

In the summer of 2020, a group of activists protested the racist dress code of a local LGBTQ owned bar and restaurant called the 941 Saloon. It was a situation that required a response because this racist dress code disproportionately impacted QTPOC.With the closure of so many LGBTQ owned bars and restaurants, finding a comfortable […]

FamilyHealthOther

The Opposite of Abandonment

June 24, 2021 by

It was an early fall evening when the light lingered in the promise of chilly weather. My brother and I escaped the schoolbus and ran down the hill to our family home as fast as we could. I was in 3rd grade so 7 years old. My 5-year-old brother was in 1st grade. The house […]

PetsPittsburgh Cat Ladies

Someone Stole My Cat Trap

June 21, 2021 by

Since I moved to Manchester in 2005, we have had many annoyances but rarely problems with porch pirates – we’ve had deliveries to our stoop, items dropped off to the side of the stoop and no problems. Until today. Today someone stole my favorite cat trap, my old faithful, the first trap I ever bought […]

Health

Autoimmune Dysmotility and Me

June 18, 2021 by

Last year, I found a doctor who finally believed me. She believed I was always low grade nauseated, I was typically not hungry, etc. I was miserable. She sent me for bloodwork and scheduled other tests. The bloodwork contained a marker suggesting I might have a GI autoimmune disorder. Then, pandemic. She thought I might […]

Pittsburgh Cat Ladies

Cat Lady Mean Girls

June 17, 2021 by

“I’m not wearing a fucking mask to make other people feel better if they don’t want Covid then they should go get the vaccine.” So this woman runs a local rescue called Save Our Strays. When she wanted to volunteer with our TNVR event, she kept insisting she wouldn’t wear a mask even though we […]