Q&A Election 2020: staci backauskas Founder, The Haiku Ninja Collective

Allegheny Bisexual

This is a new limited-Q&A series focusing on Election Day. I’ve approached an array of regional folks to ask them the same seven questions about the election. This election is complicated in ways we never thought possible, but there are paths forward. Listening to what our neighbors are prioritizing and how they are framing the […]

82 Bi+ Stories From Western Pennsylvania to Honor Bisexual Visibility Day

Bisexual Pittsburgh

Since 1999 we have honored and acknowledged the bi+ community. Bisexual+ Awareness Week seeks to accelerate acceptance of the bi+ (pansexual, fluid, no label, queer, etc.) community. #BiWeek draws attention to the experiences, while also celebrating the resiliency of, the bisexual+ community. Throughout #BiWeek, allies and bi+ people learn about the history, culture, community, and […]

Q&A: Dr. Heather Johnson on How Our Feelings About Math Shape Our Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Keeping distance from people on a day to day basis is new. I understand how long 6 feet is. It’s different from getting a feel for what keeping a 6 feet distance means. To keep our distance, we have to pay attention to people around us. It adds one more thing in a time when […]

Q&A Election 2020: Terrance McGeorge of Project Matters

Terrance McGeorge Pittsburgh

This is a new limited-Q&A series focusing on Election Day. I’ve approached an array of regional folks to ask them the same seven questions about the election. This election is complicated in ways we never thought possible, but there are paths forward. Listening to what our neighbors are prioritizing and how they are framing the […]

On Day 194, I’m Edgy

Content Note: sexual violence That’s an understatement. On Monday, I’m planning to use EMDR tools to begin working on some new information. The world is on fire, but I’m sticking with the plan. The new information isn’t actually new – I have attachment challenges, not the least was due to bonding with a substitute caretaker […]

The Mysterious Bog People exhibit haunts me years later

I remember most vividly aoproaching her reconstructed image with the resonating moaning of the music imprinting in my brain. She is known as Yde Girl. She came to Pittsburgh via the Carnegie Museums in 2005. I never thought of myself as descendants from Iron Age peat harvesters. Maybe I’m enamored because this child looks just […]

50

I just read a line in a crime novel on my Kindle app. In just three years, he’d turn fifty, one of life’s greatest milestones. The protagonist is a woman, making a note about her husband. It isn’t really relevant to the plot, except to give context to their good relationship. I’m turning 50 on […]

Write Something Gay, They Said

I dislike when anyone tells me what to write about or what not to write about on my blog. “Sue,” they say with concern. “Your posts are a little intense/personal/uncomfortable-to-read.” They tell me they miss my political content and toss out potential topics to inspire me, much like people toss snacks at zoo animals to […]

Help Connect Trans and Queer Community With Masks via #PghMasQUeProjecT

We have 17 days left to raise $6500 via our ioby crowdfund. Fortunately, ioby has partnered with the Elsie Hillman Foundation to give us a 100% match on individual donations up to $500. So we really need to raise $3250 in 17 days, access the match, and rest easy for a bit knowing we can […]

My First Doll

Content Note: sexual violence, assault, intergenerational trauma, child abuse I still have my very first baby doll, a rag doll named Mary. She sleeps in a cradle that was originally a wooden planter. She lived on a relatives dresser for many years and I finally inherited her when that person moved. I’ve written before about […]