The Very Latest Update on the LGBTQ Holiday Projects

Happy Holidays! It has been a lovely season of giving in the midst of an ongoing series of blows targeting the LGBTQ community, both locally and nationally. And it is never too late to give and to invest in your LGBTQ neighbors. Here are some ways that remain open through the holidays and into 2019. […]

Thanks to Twitter, I Fixed Allegheny Health Network. Twice.

lesbian hysterectomy

It is not a good week when you are comparing the poor customer service of both local grocery chain Giant Eagle and local healthcare giant, Allegheny Health Network. Note – if anyone chimes in with the word “Aldi’s” – you will be on my list. On Tuesday, I went to my PCP on Federal Street […]

279 #AMPLIFY Q&A’s from your LGBTQ neighbors in Western Pennsylvania – How Many Have You Read?

We have published 279 Q&A’s to date. Western Pennsylvania has about 4 million residents and about 210,000 LGBTQ residents. How many have you read? And have you shared your story using our online Q&A? Below is a reverse chronological list of the AMPLIFY Q&A’s Maria Talks Lesbian Life in the North Hills of Pittsburgh  Suzanne, […]

Maria Talks Lesbian Life in the North Hills of Pittsburgh #AMPLIFY

Allegheny County lesbian

  Name: Maria Vincenzia La Monica Age: 33 County of Residence: Allegheny Pronouns: she/her How do you describe your identity? Female, Lesbian, writer, cancer survivor, advocate, enthusiast. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I was deeply closeted until I was 29, I walked out of the closet and into the […]

Why I’m going to keep talking about menstruation, menopause, and more

lesbian hysterectomy

In a twist of irony that is just basically unfair, I find myself facing yet another round of the dreaded abdominal and transvaginal ultrasounds. Last January, I had a complete hysterectomy – complete means they removed my uterus and my cervix, leaving the ovaries. I was just 47 at the time of surgery so not […]

Long before Rick Santorum posed with a Russian Spy, he posed with this lesbian blogger intern

Rick Santorum photo Maria Butina

You are welcome, Rick. I’ve kept this since December 1991. Please feel free to circulate in place of the photo with Maria Butina.       Even better, a friend of mine created this and sent it to me earlier today …

Sometimes I still miss the family I wish I had

Sometimes I still miss the family I wish I had

I had a sort of NPR ‘driveway moment’ this weekend. Mine was in the parking lot of Walgreens where I was heading to pick up a medication for the dog. I flipped on WESA because I was a little weary of Christmas music. Listening to Lee Smith on The Moth Radio Hour reminisce about his […]

With Anti-Transgender Editorial, Post-Gazette Officially Proves that Pittsburgh Never Was #StrongerThanHate

The phrase ‘a new low’ seems inadequate to describe the mean-spirited, churlish, vicious, nasty, hateful bitterness of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial Board. But writing out that serious of descriptive words repeatedly is equally insufficient to capture the true evil this Board has embraced. This week, they published this scathing indictment of Twitter’s new speech policies […]

Two Problems with the HAIM Fundraiser for the Tree of Life Shooting in Pittsburgh

Pop rock band HAIM created a shirt on their playful Haimukkah ditty as a way to show support for the 3 Jewish congregations targeted by a white domestic terrorist in October in Pittsburgh. It is a lovely gesture.   Dreidels, Candels, Latkes oh my! All the things you need to get your Haimukkah celebration going! […]