Q&A Election 2020: staci backauskas Founder, The Haiku Ninja Collective

Allegheny Bisexual

This is a new limited-Q&A series focusing on Election Day. I’ve approached an array of regional folks to ask them the same seven questions about the election. This election is complicated in ways we never thought possible, but there are paths forward. Listening to what our neighbors are prioritizing and how they are framing the […]

‘Take your blog and get the hell out of our town’ – Some Folx from Worthington, Armstrong County Are Not Happy With Me

Dame Judi Dench

Content Note: racism, bigotry, rape culture Please click the links for the backstory. In mid-February, I posted about racist fear-mongering billboard content on an electronic billboard in Worthington Borough, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. Along with describing the billboards, I shared 11 suggestions for getting involved to resist this messaging. A few days later, the billboard’s lessee […]

White Supremacist Billboards in Armstrong County Refreshes Content with Worse Racist Hate

Worthington Armstrong County John Placek Racist Billboard

A few days ago, I wrote a post about billboard in Worthington Borough, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. It is an electronic billboard located on the property of the Worthington-West Franklin Volunteer Fire Dept, facing west at the intersection of 422 and Bear Street, which is an intersection with a traffic light. Yes, this hate is helping […]

Mark, 29, Talks About Gay Stereotypes in Pittsburgh

Name: Mark Age: 29 County of Residence: Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: He How do you describe your identity? Male Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? When I was 18 to one of my close friends. She had actually been under the impression that I was “100% hetero” and I had to set […]

Erik Is a Cis White Working-Class Queer from Clearfield County

Allegheny Clearfield Gay

  Name: Erik Age: 45 County of Residence: Allegheny. I grew up in Clearfield County, and attended college in Crawford County. Preferred Pronouns: he/him How do you describe your identity? This is evolving – in the sense that years ago, I wouldn’t have attached “cis,” not knowing what that meant – but I’m comfortable identifying as a cis white working-class […]

AMPLIFY:

Western Pennsylvania

This post has been removed at the request of the respondent. To read other AMPLIFY posts, please click this link.   AMPLIFY LGBTQ is a new occasional series of blog posts designed to give a “signal boost” to the voices of our LGBTQ neighbors throughout Western Pennsylvania. We are using a Q&A format and will […]

What Do You Want to Know About Your LGBTQ Neighbors?

Amplify LGBTQ

Do you have a burning question about LGBTQ life in Western Pennsylvania? As I’ve been working on the AMPLIFY! LGBTQ project, I’m pondering the types of questions that will get to the heart of the lived experiences of our neighbors – from Waynesburg to Erie. So I’m going to open the floor to you, dear […]

Will Dan Savage Bring His Best Santorum to the US Capitol Steps?

Rick Santorum internship

I’m fairly certain I’m one of a handful of 44 year old people who still list their college internship on their resume. My six-month stint with then-Congressman Rick Santorum in 1991 has proved to be one of the most unintentionally fruitful items on my list of professional accomplishments. Thanks to Santorum’s decision to run for […]

Pgh Reaches OUT to LGBTQ Elders For The Holidays

Cards for Persad Center

Funny how social media conversations can lead you down unexpected paths. I had recently posted about the creative name variants people use when they send holiday cards to our family (we are an unmarried lesbian couple who have been together for 12+ years.) – this is a pet peeve! A few people asked if they […]

Exploring The Art and Craft of Lesbian Blogging

NaBloPoMo Lesbian

Today, November 1, marks the launch of the *real* NaBloPoMo – National Blog Posting Month. This group-blog idea was founded in 2006 as a little sibling to National Novel Writing Month. Now managed by BlogHer, NaBloPoMo has a simple aim – post something every day. They offer blogging prompts, a blogroll and the opportunity to […]