‘We Just Forgot How to Care for Ourselves’ A Widowed Husband Reflects on the Toll of Alcohol Abuse on His Family

Content Note: Alcohol, depression, death, grief In 2015, a woman named Heather completed the AMPLIFY Q&A and she caught my attention. This response in particular has stayed with me all of these years later. What motivated you to take part in this project? I don’t talk about this part of my life a lot, and when […]

It is Time for Campaign Q&A’s for the 2023 Primary Election

Political Q&A

Each election cycle, our blog publishes Q&A’s with candidates for elected office. You can see previous Q&A’s at this link. Candidates can be anywhere in Pennsylvania running for any level of office. Please note that these are not necessarily endorsements, more of an opportunity for candidates to connect with the LGBTQ community, progressive neighbors, and […]

Black Trans Woman Jasmine ‘Star’ Mack, 36, Killed in Washington DC

Jasmine star Mack

Her name is Jasmine Star Mack. She was 36-years-old, Black, and a trans woman. She may have been homeless. She died from a stab wound on the same day (night) that the 118th Congress was sworn into office. And that is all that we know right now about the first victim of fatal anti-trans violence […]

#PghCatFolx Collecting Donations of Cat Stuff to Support Neighbors

This is our new storage unit, filled with pieces of a shed we’ll erect in the spring. “ We” is Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities#PghCatFolx projects There’s plenty of room for your gently used pet items that we will distribute to cat colony caretakers, rescue groups, and pet owners. This is the precursor to our Free Pet […]

Review: Pittsburgh’s Response to Hairspray Challenges Right Wing Attacks on Drag Artists

And yet when Edna hit the stage no one in the audience booed. People cheered and laughed. A theatre full of people in Pittsburgh in an audience that contained kids did not seem to be offended by Edna in the slightest. When I send Laura, Sarah, and Elijah off to review the arts, I never […]

How I’m Getting Familiar With Scotland

Jennie Tarleton

During my growing up years, my family wove a tale of our Irish origins leaving me with the mixed up understanding that I was mostly Irish Catholic with a wee bit of German. Oh, so wrong. I learned that my family had participated in a unique 20th century “forgetting” of their ethnic origins and cultures […]

A Glimpse Into the Life of Community Cat Pretty Girl

Many of you comment on the striking beauty of our feral DLH tortoiseshell, Pretty Girl. She’s absolutely gorgeous with a long coat and beautiful piercing eyes. She was part of the OG group of ferals we found at the colony we dubbed Fort Faulsey. She didn’t trust us not even a little bit, watching warily […]

Nothing changes on New Year’s Day

This is the first year in my life I didn’t feel melancholy about the changing of the calendar. It has nothing to do with the content of 2022 and everything to do with the context of my mental health journey. Sure, it is a good time to reflect and reconfigure your life. Or, not. As […]

Top 30 Most Frequently Read Posts in 2022

2022 Most Popular Blogs

Always a sobering post, I’m not the least bit shocked that only seven of these 30 posts are NOT about violence targeting the trans community – the rest are memorial posts and reporting on anti-trans campaigns. Our Q&A with Pennsylvania’s Second Lady, Gisele Fetterman (3), is unsurprisingly popular. Also our Q&A with her husband Senator-Elect […]

My Blog Turns 18 Today

18 candles

Jesus, it has been a year. The nonprofit I helped to found, Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities, was in business and hit the ground running in January. My mother died in February. I received my second national #GLAADaward as Outstanding Blog in May. I threw out the first pitch during the Pittsburgh Pirates Pride Night at PNC […]