First United Methodist Church Withdraws from Pgh Pridefest To Stand With Marginalized LGBTQ Community

Church Withdraws From PrideFest

I received this statement from First United Methodist Church in response to recent disclosures about Pridefest ~ Sue PRIDE 2015 RESPONSE– First United Methodist Church, 5401 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15232 Our response to the contracting of IGGY AZALEA for be the musical headliner for PrideFest 2015. IGGY AZELEA is a rapper who in both […]

What Are the Safety and Security Plans for Pittsburgh Pridefest?

Pittsburgh Pridefest

Protestors with an avowed anti-LGBTQ bent haven’t historically been a significant presence at Pittsburgh Pridefest. Yes, here and there. But it was really only in 2014 that they garnered the sort of attention that they craved when Repent Amarillo protested at the City County Building, strolled down the Pridefest route and then set up a […]

Doug Shields Statement on Pridefest

Doug Shields Pridefest

In the spirit of accountability, I have reached out to members of the Delta Foundation’s Community Advisory Board for their reactions to the controversies surrounding Pridefest. I already shared the response of State Representative Dan Frankel. This is the response of former City Councilman Doug Shields who is currently part of the staff of City […]

Billy Hileman on Pridefest Controversy: ‘I Stand With The Protestors’

Diversity Pittsburgh Pridefest

Late last week, longtime LGBTQ activist Billy Hileman began posting images on Facebook calling out the Delta Foundation around their decision to invite Iggy Azalea to perform at Pittsburgh Pridefest. Hileman coordinated Pridefest organizing in the 1990’s. He agreed to answer a few questions for me. “Defending Iggy doesn’t work. Iggy Azalea has no business […]

UPDATED: London Chanel, 21, Eighth Trans Woman of Color Murdered in 2015

London Chanel Transgender

Very sad news from close to home in Philadelphia – 21-year-old London Chanel was murdered early Monday morning and then promptly misgendered in the reporting. Fortunately, her friends weighed in quickly and the media updated their reporting. How sad that’s part of the ritual of mourning our trans sisters – fact checking the media. A […]

LGBTQ&A: DJ Wiggins Gaymely Gets Involved

An occasional series where we pose some questions to local LGBTQ folks (and Allies) to learn more about their personal experiences with LGBTQ culture. Click here for a complete list of all LGBTQ&A profiles.  During Pride 2013, we are trying to feature someone each day. I only “know” Dwayne through Twitter – he’s very good about retweeting and […]

Pittsburgh PrideFest 2014 and Beyond: Five Things to Consider

We were on 5th Avenue at 11 AM to line up for the Pride Awareness March and hung in until the very end of the day, trekking our way back to our car after 6. The march was terrific – we ended up at the bend where 5th turns into Liberty and so we had […]

Sue Will Be Guest on Essential Pittsburgh Discussing Pridefest Today

I’ll be on the WESA 90.5 daily talk show “Essential Pittsburgh” today along with Gary Van Horn from the Delta Foundation. Our topic is the cultural impact of pridefest on the region and inclusivity.   Pittsburgh Pride’s website quotes Richard Florida in his best-selling book on economic growth, The Rise of the Creative Class, “the most […]

Hoping for a full circle

I’ve written before about my own struggles with organized religion and my belief in a higher power. (A saga which I should probably get around to finishing one of these days… hmm.) I don’t believe it’s necessary for you to believe in a higher power, or to belong to any organized faith. It works for […]

Pgh Human Relations Commission Describes LGBTQ as “Lifestyle,” Claims This Blog Has Porn Content

UPDATE: If you want to take action, please sign my petition via change.org.  I just reviewed the official minutes from the March 4, 2013 meeting of the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations. Commissioner Beth Pittinger expressed concern that this blog was blocked by the City web filters based on the word “lesbian” in the URL, […]