All My Halloween Things

My brain needs a break so here are some Halloween celebratory things happening in my life. First, the inflatables. Over the years, I have acquired a green Christmas tree, a very large owl (named Xavier) and a skeleton unicorn (named Calliope) For Halloween, I have Xavier and Calliope up. I’m not a monster – the […]

That Time My Foster Kitten Got Sick and I Had to Miss the Governor’s LGBTQ History Month Reception

Governor Wolf LGBTQ History Month Reception

I’m tempted to write “It has been a week” but as it is only Monday night, that’s not adequate to explain where my head is right now. Here’s the quick and dirty version – I broke my toe Saturday night. Ouch. This morning, one of our foster kittens had a temperature of 105.4 (very high) […]

My World Mental Health Day in 2022

World Mental Health Day

CN: childhood sexual violence, trauma This World Mental Health Day, I’m thinking ahead 12 days to my birthday (Oct 22.) I have a complicated relationship with my birthday because of the trauma I experienced during my childhood along with the neglect and abuse. There’s a lot of reasons – the inconsistent celebrations, the shame and […]

Disney’s Musical Frozen Comes to Pittsburgh This Week and Here’s Why I’ll Be There

Kristoff and Sven

I have a secret – I have never watched Frozen. Not either movie, not the spin-off shorts, none of it. There’s no particular reason. I like the music. I have niblings who adored everything about it. I even had the CD for awhile on loan and have access to Disney+. Fortunately, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust […]

That Time My 11 Year Old Nibling Connected Representation in ‘The Little Mermaid’ to ‘The Cross Connection’ on MSNBC

My nibling,11, hanging with me this AM while The Cross Connection with Tiffany Cross on mute. He watched while we chatted, then said “Everyone on this news show looks like me.” He’s Black. He said “Is this like the new #LittleMermaid for adults?” So there you go Princess Tiffany D. Cross Follow up – we […]

Living With Birthday Anxiety

My birthday is October 22. This year, I turn 52. I’m not at all worried about aging because I was brought up to believe that our 50’s are a great time period. Not THE 50’s but our decade of being 50. To be clear. And that’s proving to be the case. I’m a better version […]

Two Trans Folx Experiencing Mental Health Crisis Shot and Killed by Police in Separate Incidents

Last night I read this via HRC Aaron Lynch, a 26-year-old transgender man who was shot and killed by police in McClean, Virginia on July 7. Then I read this on Facebook On May 19, 2022, Maddie, a transgender woman, Korean adoptee, and father of two young children, was shot and killed by Malvern Police (Pennsylvania) during […]

Community Q&A: Chris, 16, Talks About His Identity, His Family, and Enduring Harassment in His Pittsburgh Neighborhood

Chris Eagleton

I I know it is hard, it is hard to live in a society that does not fit you, but there are people like you. It’s hard every day knowing that your identity is up for debate. It is not fair. But the only way to change this is to prove them wrong. They want […]

Community Q&A: Ke’Juan, 15, Talks About Her Identity, Her Family, and Enduring Harassment in Her Pittsburgh Neighborhood

Black Trans Girl

We have to be more mindful when walking home by ourselves, we have to have extra protection and make sure to be with someone in case something happens, we had to block my bedroom window because the neighbor was staring into my room,  we had to put a plan in place so if there was a problem […]

Black Trans Woman Shawmayné McClam, 27, Shot to Death in Mississippi

Her name was Shawmayné Giselle Marie McClam. She was a Black trans woman, just 27 years old, when she was murdered in a shooting in Gulfport, Mississippi on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. And now she is the 18th known trans person to be murdered in the US this year. Her sister is hospitalized in critical […]