Q&A With Emily Skopov, Candidate for State House District 28

Emily Skopov

  We are revisiting our Political Q&A series for the upcoming elections of 2020. We’ve reached out to candidates who are pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ, asking them a series of questions about their campaigns. We’ve sent out about a dozen Q&A’s to folks and encourage you to suggest others. Candidates can be anywhere in Pennsylvania running for any […]

Pennsylvania to Require Face Masks Whenever People Leave Their Homes

As a founder of The Pittsburgh MasQUe ProjecT I was pleased to learn that PA Secretary of Health Rachel Levine M.D. and Governor Tom Wolf have significant strengthened the guidelines for masquing up in Pennsylvania. Under today’s directive, everyone must wear a mask Gov. Tom Wolf and health secretary Dr. Rachel Levine on Wednesday expanded […]

Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman Stands in Line for Groceries

Second Lady of Pennsylvania Gisele Barreto Fetterman shared this photo on Sunday morning. Her husband, Pennsylvania’s Lieutenant Goverenor, standing in the rain at a social distance with mask and gloves, waiting to shop for groceries in Pittsburgh. He’s waiting his turn. In the rain. Following the guidelines. Just like the rest of us. #LeadByExample

Day 21

Man, this is exhausting. I slept decently last night (thanks, psych medication) and struggled to get going today. The days start the same as usual – get washed, dressed, let the dog out, feed the cats, feed the other cats, feed the original cats again, feed the dog, make the coffee, eat something. Laura gets […]

How to Keep House During a Pandemic: Sanity v Sanitization

How to clean during a pandemic

When this began, we had on hand the following:  two bottles of bleach, six bottles of white vinegar, four bottles of Murphys Oil Soap, rags, spray bottles, and half a refill bottle of hand soap. We also had about eight rolls of paper towels, a package of napkins, and lots of rags. After week one, […]

Q&A with Matt Merriman-Preston About the Pennsylvania Primary Election, Mail-In Ballots, and More

This is a very confusing time. We spend hours trying to find toilet paper and disinfectant, worrying about access to critical medications that are being redirected to maybe cure COVID-19, and having our evening news interrupted by a ridiculous puppet President who lies and misleads us every single fucking day. One point of confusion is […]

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 […]

Visibility in Coming Out, Both Quietly and Publicly #NationalComingOutDay

Yep I'm Gay

I had an idea to explore an important question around coming out – the need for visibility and representation by publicly out folks in all industries, occupations, walks of life balanced against the very personal decisions we make to come out. I wrote about this in 2015 regarding the workforce of the City of Pittsburgh. […]

Queering the PA Wilds: Day Two

Technically, our first full day of vacation. This is my travelogue. You are welcome to read along.Our little camping cottage is super cute and efficient, but I don’t like the bed. It’s big, plumpy, and covered in a bamboo woven comforter. But my back hurts.The breakfast local recommended by our friends was closed today. So […]

Worthington Man Behind Racist Messages Plans to Erect Two Additional Billboards in Armstrong County

Worthington Armstrong County racism

Last week, the Kittanning Leader Times ran a comprehensive article on the racist billboards posted along State Route 422 in Worthington Borough. The article is behind a paywall so if you’d like to read it, you will need to invest either $2.99 for a days access or $20 for a month. The reporter, Jon Andreassi, […]