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There’s something about late August that feels like a beginning and an ending at the same time.
Summer is still hanging on, but all across Pittsburgh, dorm rooms are filling up, moving trucks are unloading, and thousands of students are beginning a new semester. For some, this is a return to familiar faces and favorite places. For others, everything is brand new.
And maybe that’s a good reminder for the rest of us, too. You don’t have to have everything figured out before you show up.
You can walk into the event alone. You can introduce yourself to somebody new. You can try the thing you’ve been nervous about trying. You can discover that the future looks completely different from the one you imagined.
Sometimes the best parts of our lives begin with having absolutely no idea what comes next.
So wherever you find yourself this Monday, either settling into a dorm room, squeezing the last drops out of summer, or somewhere completely unexpected, we hope you give yourself permission to show up and see what happens.
Happy Monday, Pittsburgh. Let’s slay the week.
SLAY OF THE WEEK
This week’s Slay of the Week goes to all the new and returning college students arriving on campuses across Pittsburgh.
Welcome back, babes. We missed you.
And to everyone experiencing Pittsburgh for the first time, welcome home.
Moving to a new city can be exhilarating, terrifying, lonely, freeing, and occasionally all four before lunch. You’re learning a new campus, meeting roommates, figuring out which bus goes where, and perhaps discovering things about yourself along the way.
Here’s something we hope you learn quickly: your queer community doesn’t stop at the edge of campus.
There’s an entire LGBTQ+ Pittsburgh waiting for you.
There are coffee shops and bookstores, sports leagues and volunteer groups, museums and drag shows, community organizations and dance floors. There are places to party until late and places where alcohol isn’t part of the equation at all. There are people who share your interests and people you haven’t met yet who might become some of the most important people in your life.
You don’t have to experience everything your first weekend. Pick one thing. Go somewhere. Say hello.
And yes, going alone is allowed.
You might stay for three hours. You might leave after 30 minutes. Either way, you showed up.
College is supposed to be about learning, but some of the most important things you discover over the next few years probably won’t be on a syllabus.
Go find your Pittsburgh.
Now that’s a slay.
Read our full student guide on QBurgh.com →
SHARE YOUR JOY
One of our favorite parts of Slay Weekly is hearing from you.
Has something brought you joy recently? Maybe you made a new friend, started a new job, got engaged, finished a creative project, met an adorable dog, found an amazing queer-owned business, or simply had a moment that reminded you why you love this community.
Big or small, we’d love to celebrate it.
Send us an email and tell us what’s bringing you joy. Your story could be featured in an upcoming issue of Slay Weekly and help brighten someone else’s Monday.
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Queer Joy in the World: Just Keep Floating
Picture it: Two hundred LGBTQ+ people and allies. A river full of tubes. Sunshine. Swimming. Coolers. Friends, families, and several hours of glorious queer chaos floating down the Youghiogheny.
That was Pittsburgh’s 4th Annual Big Gay River Float, and this little DIY summertime tradition just keeps getting bigger.
About 150 people participated last year. This year, organizers estimate around 200 took to the Yough for a free afternoon outdoors together.
But there’s one new addition we especially love.
Organizers introduced a Solo Floater program for people who wanted to participate but didn’t have a group to come with. Sign up alone, and organizers would help connect you with other floaters before everyone hit the water.
Because sometimes the hardest part of trying something new is wondering, Who am I going to go with?
The answer can be nobody. Go anyway. You never know who might be waiting downstream.
Here’s to organizer Dennis Myers and the volunteers who keep making the Big Gay River Float accessible, welcoming, and just the right amount of chaotic.
And here’s to 200 queer people reminding everyone along the Yough that we contain multitudes… and apparently a lot of inflatable tubes.
Maybe you noticed a little phrase showing up throughout this week’s issue. Go anyway.
Nervous about walking into that queer event alone? Go anyway.
New to Pittsburgh and don’t know anybody yet? Go anyway.
Interested in trying something but worried you won’t fit in? Go anyway.
None of us gets a map showing exactly where our lives are headed. Thank goodness. There are people you haven’t met yet who will make you laugh until your stomach hurts. Places you haven’t visited that will someday feel familiar. Experiences you haven’t had that will become stories you tell for years.
There are still a few weeks of summer left, too. So go somewhere. Try something. Say hello. Go anyway.
We’ll see you next Monday.
Talk soon.
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