The Full Obituary of Madeleine Hershey

Madeleine Hershey (1963 – 2015)

Yesterday, I read about the death of a member of Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ community. Her name was Madeleine Hershey and she was 51 years old. I knew her only very casually, but I was struck by her family’s decision to self-publish her obituary.  This is what I read: Below is Madeleine’s obituary and information about celebrations […]

Pittsburgh Vigil for Andi Woodhouse, Trans Man Who Died By Suicide

Andi Woodhouse Vigil

On Saturday, January 3, a dozen people gathered on the 10th Street Bridge near Pittsburgh’s South Side to honor the memory of Andi Woodhouse. Andi was a 24-year-old trans man, a new resident of Pittsburgh who died by suicide in mid-December at this location. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did a nice story leading into the vigil. […]

Vigil for Andi Woodhouse Set For 2 PM Saturday in Pittsburgh

Andi Woodhouse

Organizers in Pittsburgh have coordinated a vigil for Andi Woodhouse, the 24-year-old trans man who died by suicide in mid-December.  The vigil begins at 2 PM. Details: On Saturday, December 13, 2014, 24-year-old Andi Woodhouse died by suicide near the 10th Street Bridge in Pittsburgh. Andi was a trans man from Lebanon, PA. We will […]

UPDATED 24 Year Old Trans Man Dies By Suicide in Pittsburgh

Andi Woodhouse

The news about the death of Leelah Alcorn outside of Cincinnati brought to my attention a similar tragedy much closer to home. On Saturday, December 13, 2014, 24-year-old Andi Woodhouse died by suicide near the 10th Street Bridge in Pittsburgh. Andi was from Lebanon, PA. He was in Pittsburgh temporarily for some services and he […]

Pgh Reaches OUT to LGBTQ Elders For The Holidays

Cards for Persad Center

Funny how social media conversations can lead you down unexpected paths. I had recently posted about the creative name variants people use when they send holiday cards to our family (we are an unmarried lesbian couple who have been together for 12+ years.) – this is a pet peeve! A few people asked if they […]

Update On My Pgh Holiday Things To Do

Kennywood

In early November, I published a list of holiday things that I’d like to do this year. My plans were unexpectedly derailed when I learned that my 13 year-old dog has cancer. In fact, just today he had surgery to remove the growth and will spend the next two weeks recuperating. So my holiday things-to-do […]

LGBTQ Holiday Shopping in Pittsburgh

Gay Christmas

A few suggestions for your holiday shopping planning. Support local non-profits and community groups is a terrific gift idea. In almost all cases, you can make a donation in the name of your loved one, but some local groups have some unique gift opportunities for you to consider. Note – these are LGBTQ organizations. If […]

WESA 90.5 Explores LGBTQ Poverty

WESA

This past week, WESA aired two segments addressing an often overlooked issue in the LGBTQ community – poverty. Deanna Garcia put together a solid segment focusing squarely on poverty, using data from The Williams Institute as well as interviews with local leaders. She interviewed a local lesbian who is disabled and living on Social Security. […]

Whatever Happened to Alex Libby from the Movie Bully

Alex Libby

  Today, October 16, is Spirit Day, founded in 2010 for people to show their support for LGBTQ youth. I happened upon something quite relevant – an update on Alex Libby, the young man portrayed with such empathy in the original movie. In 2013, Anderson Cooper and CNN put together a followup on several of […]