The Criminal Complaint Against Gary Van Horn Illustrates (Again) Divides in Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ Community

The local LGBTQ community is abuzz with the revelation that Delta Foundation President Gary Van Horn has started a Pittsburgh chapter of the Rosco P Coltrane fan club and “unofficially” brought Allegheny County Sheriff Mullen, a few notaries, and his friend “Timmy” along with him. (see images below to interpret that allusion.) Gary has been […]

Why I Ended My Fiscal Sponsorship Relationship with Persad Center

Persad Center Shame

My fiscal sponsorship relationship with Persad Center has formally ended. I made the decision earlier in the fall after two specific incidents made me aware beyond a shadow of a doubt that allying the #AMPLIFY and other community art projects with the current incarnation of Persad was both unhealthy and hurtful to my LGBTQ neighbors. […]

Will Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ Mental Health Center merge with a non-LGBTQ health organization?

Persad Allies Merger

I was informed today that Persad Center faces a dire choice due to finances – either merge with the much larger Allies for Health + Wellbeing (formerly known as the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force) or face potential closure altogether. Without any timeframe for this, I have to make immediate decisions about my mental health treatment […]

Rural PA LGBTQ&A with TransFamily NWPA and Erie Gay News from Erie, Pennsylvania

Rural organizing Erie County

This is part of a new occasional series exploring LGBTQ organizing in rural Pennsylvania communities. After our recent driving trip through the PA Wilds communities, I was impressed that after an almost complete lack of queer visibility, a slew of new LGBTQ projects unfolded in my feed – a Pride event in Elk County, a Pride parade […]

Persad Staff Vote to Unionize Their LGBTQ Mental Health Agency in Pittsburgh

The workers at Persad Center, the LGBTQ mental health and community center founded in 1972, voted affirmatively to unionize with the United Steelworkers (USW) on Thursday, December 5, 2019. The Persad Staff Union now joins the ranks of other white collar workers including the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh employees. That’s an interesting aside given that […]

Rural Pennsylvania Group Hosts First Local LGBTQ Pride Gathering in Elk County

Elk County LGBT Pride

This is how it works – or it should work. A group of local folks create a safe space to celebrate and affirm their LGBTQ neighbors. In this case, a 40-year-old pansexual mother of two set up a visibility event in a park in St. Mary’s, Pennsylvania. People came, made connections, joined the Facebook group. […]

Lisa Moondrop, 33, Has a Voice as a Bisexual Person in Western Pennsylvania #AMPLIFY

Pittsburgh Bisexual Woman

The biggest challenge I faced was coming out to myself. I was very surprised, scared, and ashamed of my attraction to females at first. I didn’t know how to respond to my emotions and was scared others wouldn’t know how to respond to my sexuality. Name: Lisa Moondrop Age: 33 County of Residence: Allegheny formerly Westmoreland Pronouns: She/her/hers and […]

Is Cancelling Three Rivers Regatta Karma for Accepting Chick-fil-A Sponsorship for Pittsburgh Marathon?

Three Rivers Regatta cancelled

I am convinced this is true. Today, Pittsburgh announced that the Three Rivers Regatta has been cancelled for 2019. LionHeart had been giving regular updates to the regatta’s board on the state of sponsorships and financial transactions related to the event. Late last week, the board learned for the first time that LionHeart had misrepresented […]

50+ Pittsburgh Ways to Honor the 50th Legacy of Stonewall #PghPride

Stonewall 50th Anniversary Pittsburgh

The legacy of Stonewall’s 50th Anniversary is hotly contested, revised, and yet still remains vitally important to all of us LGBTQ people. I decided to create a list of 50 events and actions you can take to honor that legacy. These are not in any particular ranking nor chronological order. This list is meant to […]

Call To Action: Peters Township, Washington County Might Consider Non-Discrimination Ordinance

Peters Towsnship Non-Discrimination Ordinance

A friend of mine read about the lack of non-discrimination protections in Pennsylvania. So she took action in her community and contacted the Peters Township Council, asking them to consider introducing the ordinance. She is amazing and brave.  Peters Township is in Washington County and this would be the first such ordinance in the entire […]