This Thursday 8/31 is K'vetsch!

This month it's going to be held at Garfield Artworks (just a couple
doors up from the usual spot at Modern Formations) at 4931 Penn Ave in
Garfield (http://garfieldartworks.com/).

It's Pittsburgh's only queer open mic.  There'll be a featured
performer, and then you, dear queers, get your chance to take the
stage.  

Admission is $5, but if you perform, it's FREE!

A group of wingnut bigots has been picketing Lucille's, a Johnstown gay bar for the past several months.  The group's leader, self-styled Anabaptist Preacher Ron McRae, has an illustrious career of hating everyone from Catholics to Mormons to everyone's favorite group, the homos.  From the City Paper report, it appears McRae worships at the feet of Fred Phelps. 

The pickets began the first weekend in July, and have taken place on Friday or Saturday nights. There have been at least seven so far, and McRae has attended most, along with four to 10 other protesters. McRae did not respond to a request for comment.

 

?Some of the women [patrons] are very upset ? [picketers] call them hogs,? Schnur says. And the preachers? group has targeted one slim male patron with, ?Hey, skinny boy, do you have AIDS?? he adds. They?ve also brandished a sign reading ?Sodomites, burn in hell.?

Christianity in action, folks - demeaning and slandering people.  Good to know Jesus is in their hearts. 

The bar's owner, Tom Schnur, has worked with local police and the Human Relations Commission to contain the protestors, carefully trying not to add wind to their sails.  Here's hoping boring the protestors will prove fruitful. 

Each fall, the Gay and Lesbian Neighborhood Development Association (GLENDA) holds their "Dining for Diversity" event which features small invitation-only dinner parties (dining) throughout the city followed by a large open-to-the-public dessert reception and silent art auction. 

GLENDA is a wonderful organization - they offer volunteer opportunities for LGBTQ individuals and families which create opportunities to socialize and meet new people as well as do something meaningful.   And I have used GLENDA volunteers at my agency.  I cannot say enough good things about their mission, their volunteers and their structure.  When people are coming out, I always send them to GLENDA as the most low key way to meet some new gays in a non-threatening environment.

But I never really liked the Dining for Diversity event, primarily because of its exclusive nature.  You had to be invited to someone's house for dinner which creates a sense of being "in or out" of the party.  Being invited to the dessert reception w/o dinner was like going to the afterprom party even when you didn't get invited to the prom.  It just isn't the same.  For an organization focused on breaking down barriers between the gay and straight communities, it felt odd to raise funds vis a vis an event that excluded people. 

This year GLENDA is focusing on "Just Desserts" with no dinner parties in sight.  Yeah!  Putting everyone on an equal footing is a step in the right direction. 

Dining for Diversity

Saturday, September 9

7:00 - 10 :00 PM

Society for Contemporary Craft

2100 Smallman Street

Make a point to stop by and support an organization which distinguishes Pittsburgh's LGBTQ community.  The dessert was fabulous last year and the location is very cool.  Be there!

Courtesy of our friend and groovaliacious queer organizer Ehrrin ...

Queer Singer/Songwriter Series at Modern Formations - Thursday August 3             ...   more »

Dee Sias, owner of local independent video store Heads Together, wrote to the Post-Gazette to share the store's secret to small business success in the face of competitor's like Blockbuster and Netflix -- they carry movies people want to see.  Including (gasp!) gay movies.

I would like people to know that my store does very well -- considering the bills I have to pay -- and the reason is that I carry what other stores do not, what Netflix cannot provide, what is not available on cable and what Blockbuster refused to carry.

I have an extremely loyal customer base of individuals looking for independent, foreign, cult and gay movies. I believe we succeed where others do not because we are knowledgeable and passionate about movies, familiar with our customers and love to talk about and recommend movies.

Sias is responding to a PG article questioning the uncertain future of independent video stores.  Sias points out that Heads Together thrives while two other Squirrel Hill stores have closed their doors, including a Blockbuster.

I used to belong to Netflix, but I don't rent movies often enough to justify it.  Oh sure, I had noble intentions --- renting movies, cuddling on the sofa, staying in touch with pop culture, etc.  Then life got in the way --- newspapers and books to be read, friends to engage in conversations, blog posts to write, even the occasional television program.  There was too much real life happening to watch the movie edition.  Sigh. 

Now we'll be toddling off to Heads Together to check out their selection.

Dee -- good for you for writing in to defend the small entrepreneur as well as those of us who aren't irreversibly cocooned in corporate webs.