advertisement
Listen on Spotify
Finding Your Place
There’s something comforting about realizing you belong somewhere.
Sometimes it happens all at once. More often, it sneaks up on you. It’s the familiar face who remembers your name. The coffee shop where they know your order. The community event where someone waves you over. The first time you walk into a room and stop wondering whether you’ll fit in.
That’s one of my favorite things about queer Pittsburgh.
There isn’t just one place to find community. It’s in bookstores. On softball fields. At drag shows. In libraries. At neighborhood bars. On hiking trails. In volunteer groups. Wherever people choose to gather with kindness and authenticity.
Finding your place doesn’t always mean discovering somewhere new. Sometimes it means realizing you’ve been welcome all along.
Happy Monday, Pittsburgh. Here’s to finding your people and helping someone else find theirs.
SLAY OF THE WEEK: Pittsburgh Equality Center
This week’s Slay of the Week goes to the Pittsburgh Equality Center for bringing our community together to talk about the issues that matter most.
Last Thursday’s town hall was a reminder that protecting LGBTQ+ rights takes more than hope. It takes people willing to organize, share knowledge, ask hard questions, and build power together. Community leaders discussed everything from Pittsburgh’s local nondiscrimination protections and trans rights to civic engagement, upcoming elections, and how each of us can help shape a more equitable future.
One message echoed throughout the evening: we are stronger when we show up for one another. Whether it’s advocating for trans neighbors, fighting discrimination, encouraging new leaders to run for office, or building solidarity across movements, progress happens when communities come together.
Thank you to the Pittsburgh Equality Center for creating a space where our community can learn, connect, and leave inspired to keep doing the work.
Now that’s a slay.
READER JOY: from Scott
This week’s Reader Joy comes from Scott.
When Scott moved back to Pittsburgh after 20 years in New York City, he wasn’t sure how comfortable he’d feel expressing himself openly back home. This week, he decided to stop wondering and simply show up as himself, walking into a neighborhood pool hall with freshly painted red and orange nails and his rainbow lanyard proudly on display. He got a few curious looks, but what stood out most was how normal the experience felt.
A fellow player complimented one of his shots, another welcomed him while talking about local leagues, and everyone treated him like just another pool player. Scott recognizes that not everyone experiences acceptance the same way, especially those who are more visibly gender nonconforming, but he hopes that by living authentically, he can help make it a little easier for others to do the same. Sometimes joy is found in realizing you don’t have to leave part of yourself at the door.
Thank you for sharing your joy, Scott.
SHARE YOUR JOY
Did something gay and glorious happen this week?
✨ You wore your first binder out in public
✨ You finally asked them out (and they said yes)
✨ You slayed at karaoke
✨ You felt cute at Giant Eagle
✨ You just felt seen
We wanna hear it! Send us your queer joy, big or small, and we might feature it in next week’s issue. Because your joy? That’s newsworthy too.
advertisement
Queer Joy in Print, Everywhere
The response to QBurgh’s first monthly newspaper has been incredible. Seeing stacks disappear from cafés, community centers, libraries, and businesses across the region reminded us just how much our community still loves picking up a newspaper and discovering queer stories in print.
We’ve already added a whole bunch of new pickup locations for next month’s issue, but we’re just getting started. That’s where you come in.
Is there a neighborhood coffee shop where everyone gathers? A favorite bookstore, boutique, community center, or other welcoming space that should have copies? We’d love to hear about it. Our goal is to make QBurgh easy to find wherever queer Pittsburgh comes together.
Know the perfect spot? Email us at hi@qburgh.com and let us know. Together, we can get more queer stories into more hands.
Couldn’t find July’s newspaper? Subscribe to receive QBurgh by mail every month. Never miss an issue again!
Queer Joy in the World: Love on the Shelves
There’s something magical about a bookstore that understands exactly what you’re looking for, even if all you can say is, “I’m looking for a book where…”
Pittsburgh is now home to two romance bookstores, Passionate Pages and The Shelf Love Society, and they’re proving that these spaces are about so much more than happily-ever-afters. They’re becoming gathering places where readers can browse stories that reflect their lives, discover new authors, join book clubs, and connect with people who share their love of romance in all its forms.
We especially love that The Shelf Love Society has made LGBTQ+ romance a cornerstone of its collection, making sure queer readers can find stories where love like theirs takes center stage. In a world that can sometimes make belonging feel hard to find, spaces like these remind us that community can begin with a conversation, a recommendation, or simply the right book at the right time.
Here’s to stories that help us find ourselves and to the bookstores that help us find each other.
As we move through another week of queer summer, I hope you find a place that reminds you you belong. Maybe it’s a neighborhood pool hall, a local bookstore, a community meeting, a coffee shop, or somewhere you haven’t discovered yet.
Our community is built in these everyday moments. In the conversations we have, the stories we share, the spaces we create, and the ways we show up for one another. Every time we make room for someone to be fully themselves, queer Pittsburgh becomes a little stronger.
Thanks for being part of this community and for letting us be part of your Mondays. Until next week, keep exploring, keep connecting, and keep making this city feel a little more like home.
Have a beautiful week, Pittsburgh.
Talk soon.
Listen on Spotify
advertisement
