Pitt Responds to Allegations of Trans Discrimination

Pitt Responds to Allegations of Trans Discrimination

The University of Pittsburgh has filed a motion to dismiss a complaints alleging discrimination against transgender students due to their restrictive bathroom policies. The complaint was filed by Rainbow Alliance on behalf of students. It remains unclear if any faculty or staff member has filed a similar complaint. “The complaint does not identify any actual […]

NetRoots Nation 2012 – Reporting From The LGBT Pre-Conference

NetRoots Nation 2012 – Reporting From The LGBT Pre-Conference

Greetings from Providence. It is somewhat chilly here, but what a beautiful town. We are near the capitol building in a fancy, schmancy hotel with a great view and no vending machines (i know, i know.) After a 15 hour travel saga that was mostly uneventful thanks to Megabus, we made it here and spent […]

Miss Pennsylvania is Transphobic; Other Miss Pennsylvania Questioned About Marriage Equality

What a contradiction. Today comes the news that Sheena Monnin, Miss Pennsylvania, opted to turn in her tiara because she’s unhappy about  the inclusion of transgender women in beauty pageants.  “I am officially and irrevocably resigning the title of Miss Pennsylvania USA 2012,” the e-mail released by Miss Universe said. “I refuse to be part […]

Lancaster Paper Rejects Paid Same Sex Marriage Announcement

Lancaster Paper Rejects Paid Same Sex Marriage Announcement

Jeffrey Klouser and Brent Weaver have been together 7 years and plan to marry out of state. To commemorate a momentous occasion they, like man couples, took out an ad in the local newspaper’s Celebrations section. Unfortunately, the paper’s management decided that such a simple affirmation of a relationship was not in line with community […]

You Just Don’t Get It: More Response to Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church

You Just Don’t Get It: More Response to Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church

The other day, I shared some of my personal thoughts about the allegations against Father Dan Valentine of St. James Parish in Sewickley on my Facebook page.  I had some back and forth with friends who were commenting on how they would respond if their kids disclosed and how they would never feel comfortable leaving […]

Letter to The Editor: Post-Gazette – Marriage Equality

You know, its been awhile since I posted a letter to the editor – that’s partially due to the major fail on the part of the search engines for the Trib and the Post-Gazette.  Brandon Mitchell of Greenfield shares his optimism in response to President Obama’s affirmation of marriage equality. I cannot express the feelings […]

Prepping for NetRoots Nation 2012

Ledcat and I are very excited to be off to Providence, Rhode Island for the 2012 NetRoots Nation Conference. It is especially cool because we have scholarships so this a mini-vacation (best we’ll do for this year) as well as conference. I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to absorb, but the chance to […]

When Your Life is Touched by Pedophilia and Child Molestation Once, Twice, Three Times

It is a terrible burden to carry – the realization that someone you trusted violated other children. I know this because tonight I learned that a third person in my life is being investigated for “inappropriate contact via Facebook with minor children.”  The second person was a Catholic Priest in my home parish of  Holy […]

Ignoring Our Neighbors – the Ultimate Cost

Ignoring Our Neighbors – the Ultimate Cost

I don’t even have the right words to share this. This morning, a woman died in a fire in her own home. She was described as a “hoarder” and apparently her possessions created a nightmare scenario for firefighters who were unable to save her. That’s not the only tragedy. From WPXI: Neighbors told Channel 11’s […]

Being an Advocate: 7th Annual Blogging for LGBT Families

I was mulling over my contribution to this year’s day dedicated to blog posts about LGBTQ families and I kept coming back to the recent chart in The Guardian which showed that LGBTQ people and families in Pennsylvania have no rights. It bothers me that so many people don’t know or accept this information because […]