How much would you pay to hear Ed Pinto’s queer life story? #AMPLIFY

Ed Pinto Pittsburgh

This is Ed Pinto aka Eduardo Pienta aka Eddie the Jagoff. I met Ed in January 2017 at a fundraiser organized by Viva Valezz to support the ACLU. His body was covered in ink, the ‘script’ of a performance spoken word piece. I was impressed that he could do a backbend and had very pretty […]

Drag Artist Jade Elektra Wows Toronto AIDS Vigil with Her Version of ‘Undetectable’

Photo of Jade Elektra 'Undetectable'

This weekend, our Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is hosting a tribute to Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole. Their songbook is on my mind or in my ear, I suppose. So this video caught my eye when I was browsing My Fab Disease: Mark S. King writes After performing the song publicly once or twice, Jade […]

The Daily Show Chose Pittsburgh to Explore How Corporations Capitalize on Pride Month

Jaboukie Young-White Pittsburgh Pride

This aired Tuesday night on Comedy Central. Trevor Noah sent correspondent (we love those!) Jaboukie Young-White to explore issues around corporatization of Pride and the LGBTQ community. I’m shaking my head about the Delta Foundation trying to spin this (and the interview) as anything but a condemnation of their activities. LOL. How could they not […]

What I Think Allegheny County Should Do to Hold Police Accountable BEFORE They Are Hired

Police Accountability

Just my personal $.02 here. One issue that arises repeatedly when we are discussing police officers who kill civilians is the failure to ‘catch’ the cops who move from police department to police department because of discipline issues or misconduct or just because they are not good cops. There are two sides to this problem […]

Support the Post-Gazette Journalist Union With This Blog Button #NoPGWithoutMe

No PG Without Me

  Add this button (badge) to your website to show your support for the unionized journalists of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. You can use this code if you like. I hope to see blogs across the region <div style=”width:100%;height:auto;position:relative;padding:10px”><a href=”https://pghguild.com/”><img src=”https://pghguild.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/no-pg-without.png”></a></div> How is the contract situation at the PG? Not good. The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh’s […]

Here’s What To Do After the Pridefest in Pittsburgh

Stonewall 50th Anniversary Pittsburgh

Pride weekend has ended in Pittsburgh, but the celebration continues all month long …  Here’s our original list of ways to honor the legacy of Stonewall with upcoming activities this month … AND WE ADDED EVENTS This is not in any particular order. It is not a ranking of events, just a listing. Read away. […]

Q&A with Ember, 9, a nonbinary bisexual student who organized the first ever Pride Parade at their school

Pride Parade Elementary School

One of Ember’s parents posted this flyer on Facebook, explaining that their kid had decided to organize a Pride Parade at their school. After I read the flyer, I knew that it was important to include Ember’s voice in this blog. So I asked their parent and they worked it out amongst themselves. Ember opted […]

I Miss When It Felt Good to Be at Persad

Persad Center Delta Foundation Pridefest

I went in for my weekly therapy session today. It is Pride week! I didn’t expect banners or balloons, but I guess I expected some energy and vibes? Instead, it just felt the same as it has for months – a sad place with anxious folks (staff) dealing with a world that does not appreciate, […]

The Little Red Stocking: a Tale of a Cat’s Toy

KittenCaboodle

**Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Influencer program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. In addition, I may be compensated for purchases made via my Amazon Influencer page. ** I have no idea how the Influence program will […]

Help Replace the Laptop of the GLAAD LGBTQ Outstanding Blog for 2019 #GLAADAwards

GLAAD Outstanding Blog Award

  Soooo … this is a tale of irony and frustration. In early May, I had the honor being named Outstanding Blog through the GLAAD Awards. It was so great to have the hard work of 14 years plus dozens of contributing bloggers and AMPLIFYers acknwoledge on a national platform. We decided to celebrate by […]