I was tremendously tickled to learn that the readers of the Keystone Alliance/Gaylife Newsletter have voted me "Lesbian of the Year" for 2010.  I am in the company of my great colleagues and friends, including:

So who are these fine folks?

Together, The Keystone Alliance/GayLife Newsletter is a Multi-State, National Gay Organization. We raise money for charity, provide monthly support meetings and educational events, and write editorials in various local newspapers. We stand up for those who need protection and equal rights in our community.

It is flattering to be recognized in any form, be it someone calling me out on their blog to readers of a newsletter.  You may bust my chops, but at least you are paying attention, right? 

It does get a little interesting. 

Is your head spinning?  Did you ever expect to read Sue Kerr and John Eichelberger receiving awards from the same organization?  Read here for more details on how Senator Eichelberger earned this honor (it is not in jest).

Again, in all seriousness, it really is very nice to be acknowledged by other commnity advocates.  I am honored.

Thank you.

Saturday AM, the Arlen Specter campaign hosted an LGBT reception in Shadyside.  Ledcat and I stopped by. We had a delightful conversation with Lt. Governor candidate Jonathan Saidal (read about him here) who is a bright, witty man. Put him in a room with State Senator Daylin Leach and you'd have a pretty erudite room with a lot of laughter. 

The event was nice, but not particularly inspiring.  Senator Specter is being touted as the only person who can defeat Pat Toomey, but that very morning Sestak took a two point lead in the latest polls. 

Two quick points. 

First, I need to take a closer look at Sestak which I will do this week.  Clearly, others are doing so.

Second, here's where he lost me.  A young member of the crowd asked about the repeal of DADT.

He has the endorsement of Liberty City and Steel City so maybe he's being coy, but "some time" sounds far too much like the Administration.  Gates is going to block the repeal of DADT in 2010, until far past the mid-term elections.  I was HOPING Senator Specter might have something more inspiring to say.  We know he's a cosponsor; we need fierce leadership. 

Overall the event was nice, but pretty mainstream. Less than 1/3 of the attendees were women so I continue to bemoan that we hand over the power of our commnity ... where were all the women who have issues with Specter and missed the chance to ask him about Clarence Thomas and Alito and so forth?  We do ourselves no favor by not showing up.

I can't see you missed much, but the opportunity to create a new dialectic. 

Ledcat and I are thrilled to have been invited back to live blog the fantastic "Celebrate Life, Celebrate Art" auction to benefit Persad Center.  We had a lot of fun last year.  It was an honor to be invited back and this year we'll incorporate live tweeting @PghLesbian24 and @Ledcat.  And don't forget to support Persad ... @PersadCenter. 

Our good friends from KS Kennedy Floral will have their one of a kind floating table which has become all the rage at the LGBT social events. 

I think the logo is lovely. I'd like a print for my office. Someone was asking me to explain what it means to be queer the other day and this image expresses it better than I ever could. 

See you Monday.  If you attend the event, please stop by our table to say hello.  Otherwise, hit us up on Twitter.

We'll be using the hashtag #CLCA. 

and the PG has the story. 

Labor history is fascinating.  Glad to see we'll get more labor herstory, too. 

This was a lovely little piece to read this morning when I cracked open the Post-Gazette. A mother reflects on her reaction to her daughter's coming out .... not simply on how it made her (mom) feel, but what her (mom's) response meant for her daughter.

Such a simply, disheartening summary of how you can lose your child (and perhaps yourself?) if you reject her coming out.  The flipside is the opportunity -- to provide love, refuge, succor, support and a touchstone as you figure this out together. 

Kudos to Naomi Weisberg Seigel for a lovely Mother's Day moment.