Reentry

This week, my wife officially returned to her offices. She had been working from our kitchen table since March 18, 2020 with some occasional trips to her workspace. I hate it. I’m glad she’s working, obviously. Also glad it’s safe enough to return. And I should be glad I can watch streaming things without headphones […]

Outcomes from #ManchesterCatTrap and a Plea for Help

feral cat clinic

I’ve been mulling over how to write this post, a ‘report out’ from our recent cat trapping and pet food distribution event. So let me jump ahead to yesterday, July 6. I was going through the invoices and feedback forms to compile some solid information. I checked Facebook and saw that a neighbor on the […]

Maria Montaño Challenges Social Norms, Political Structures as ‘Best Thirst Trap’ Nominee in Pgh City Paper Best of Pittsburgh Awards

For so long, trans women and our bodies have been sold as objects under capitalism. This has led to our marginalization – and the belief that we are nothing but sexual deviants is directly related to the way we are demonized by so many. Capitalism has deprived us of our humanity, and our own sexual […]

What We Get Wrong About “Independence Day”

Martina McBride

Some folks whispered and some folks talked But everybody looked the other way And when time ran out there was no one about On Independence Day. Each year, I listen to Martina McBride’s song ‘Independence Day’ to honor the Fourth of July. There are some good lyrics and wordplay fusing our national independence themes with […]

How do you queer outreach?

I’ve been a bit busy this month with the #ManchesterCatTrap project so I didn’t participate in any Pride activities, until the end when I had the opportunity to say something. So I did. First was the chance to write an essay for PublicSource ‘Right kind of gay, wrong kind of queer’: Navigating LGBTQ discrimination in Pennsylvania […]

SisTers PGH to protest Black trans exclusion from Sen. Casey’s Pride Month celebration.

For previous Bob Casey inclusion issues, check out this 2017 post I wrote. Senator Bob Casey Excludes Black Trans Voices From Pride Event 6/29/2021 This afternoon, Sen. Bob Casey will be hosting a Pride Month celebration featuring special guest and hometown icon Billy Porter, among others. Panelists at this event are supposed to be discussing […]

Pittsburgh Pirates Wrap Up Pride Month With Fireworks and Homophobic Country Music Artists

The very same week that we witnessed two huge acknowledgements from professional athletes of their status as gay folx. The very same week, the Pittsburgh Pirates social media team decided to laud their upcoming fan concert this Thursday, July 1, 2021 featuring known homophobe and anti-vaxxer, John Rich of Big & Rich. Let’s go bucs? […]

UpStairs Lounge, Pulse Nightclub, and 941 Saloon – Intersections of Racial Justice, Trauma, and Identity

In the summer of 2020, a group of activists protested the racist dress code of a local LGBTQ owned bar and restaurant called the 941 Saloon. It was a situation that required a response because this racist dress code disproportionately impacted QTPOC.With the closure of so many LGBTQ owned bars and restaurants, finding a comfortable […]

The Opposite of Abandonment

It was an early fall evening when the light lingered in the promise of chilly weather. My brother and I escaped the schoolbus and ran down the hill to our family home as fast as we could. I was in 3rd grade so 7 years old. My 5-year-old brother was in 1st grade. The house […]

Someone Stole My Cat Trap

Since I moved to Manchester in 2005, we have had many annoyances but rarely problems with porch pirates – we’ve had deliveries to our stoop, items dropped off to the side of the stoop and no problems. Until today. Today someone stole my favorite cat trap, my old faithful, the first trap I ever bought […]