Pittsburgh City Council Passes Two Bills Protecting Gender-Affirming Care

Earlier this month, Pittsburgh City Council passed two bills aimed at protecting gender-affirming care for the city’s LGBTQ population. One protects information of those who provide this care and the other preempts statewide legislative restrictions on gender-affirming care. One of the bills would make Pittsburgh a “sanctuary city” regarding gender-affirming services. This amends a previous […]

Council of the City of Pittsburgh Proclamation that Tuesday, December 29, 2020 is ‘Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents Day’ in Pittsburgh

This is a temporary version until the hard copy arrive in a few weeks. “WHEREAS, 15 years ago on December 29th 2005, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents was established as an extension of the community organizing work that local activist Sue Kerr was regularly participating in. Sue was acting as the messenger of many local LGBTQ stories […]

Updated (Again) – Western Pennsylvania Elected FIVE Openly LGBTQ Candidates in the Rainbow Wave

The LGBTQ Victory Fund reported on 13 Pennsylvania LGBTQ candidates who won their elections this week, including two from Western Pennsylvania: Jessica Semler in Etna Borough and Bruce Kraus in City of Pittsburgh. Add two THREE more names to this list.  Edward Alo and Anthony Saba, both openly gay, were elected to Crafton Borough Council. […]

13 Openly LGBTQ Candidates Won Their Elections in Pennsylvania in 2019 ‘Rainbow Wave’

Jessica Semler Bruce Kraus

  This is amazing – 14 openly LGBTQ candidates in Pennsylvania were identified by the Victory Fund in yesterday’s elections. 13 of them won. Two of those candidates were from Western Pennsylvania – City Council President Bruce Kraus won reelection and Etna Borough Council candidate Jessica Semler, an openly queer woman, won her first campaign […]

City of Pittsburgh Honors 50th Anniversary of Stonewall Riots

  I was unable to attend this press conference, but I have been talking with Councilperson Strassburger’s team about the proposed legislation – I had no idea these gaps existed. Kudos to them for filling that gap. We’ll have more on that later. Note that Councilperson Strasssburger is wearing a ‘Yinz is a Gender Neutral […]

Mayors Bill Peduto, Bill de Blasio Drop by OUTrageous Bingo UPDATED

OUTrageous Bingo Pittsburgh

The Mayor of New York City was campaigning for Katie McGinty and Hillary Clinton at gay bingo in Pittsburgh. As you can imagine, the crowd went wild. But when Mayor DeBlasio took a seat to call a game with an able assist from Peduto, I was charmed to hear the crowd yelling at him because he called too many ‘O’ numbers in a row and resisting his attempts to launch into a round of ‘Happy Birthday’ in the middle of the game. You come to bingo, you call bingo. LOL

UPDATED Pittsburgh Designates Zones for LGBTQ Community To Protest , Gives 24 Hour Notice to Community Groups

Pittsburgh Pridefest

UPDATE Saturday: Since I wrote this at 11:30 PM Friday, the City has changed the policy about free speech zones and will not require people to use them. More here. I think Mayor Bill Peduto made a significant error in judgment this week regarding Pridefest by failing to disclose plans for “designated areas for protestors” […]

Pgh City Council President Will Not Participate in Pittsburgh Pride

Bruce Kraus Pittsburgh

A statement released by openly gay City Council President Bruce Kraus reads as follows: I have to add something here – Kraus has had conversations with former members of the foundation’s board. That’s a group from whom we have heard almost nothing. There’s a lot of unpacking to be done here.

Ten Most Popular Blog Posts of 2014

2014 In Review

  These are the posts that drew the most viewers in 2014. It is an interesting mix of LGBTQ specific information and human services/poverty stories. Most of the stories are local, but not all. I think this reflects some of the balance I strive for on the blog. 10. Toys for Tots Distribution Information  – this […]

South Side Bar Location of 2013 Queer Bashing to Close ‘Indefinitely’

Margaritaville

A South Side bar where two queer women of color were bashed in January 2013 has been closed indefinitely after a shooting incident this past weekend left a 21-year-old woman shot. She was treated and released. “With this action, a standard has been set and the message has been sent that chronic illegal, disruptive, and […]