Recently, I was among the last to leave a party thrown by a good friend of mine when I noticed a young damsel in distress. I asked my friend why this girl was tucked away in the corner, scowling at ...

Pittsburgh has been finding its way on “Most Livable City” lists recently, although I don’t know why. Pittsburgh is a great city to live in if you’re NOT black and gay. Here the white and black gay communities are two ...

Born in Douglassville in Berks County, Michelle Holsopple’s parents raised her to be involved in church and school functions, the goal being to help others and that upbringing has followed her all her life. After graduating from Slippery Rock University ...

A visit to Puerto Rico, or the “Spanish Virgin Islands,” immerses you in a rainbow of color. From the pinks and yellows of the dawn’s morning sky to the sinewy reds and purples of twilight, each day holds the promise ...

After having four children, Pattie and Tim Gabriel divorced after 15 years of marriage. Surprisingly they still go on family vacations together – the only difference now is Tim often brings his partner. “His partner’s family has just become an ...

What can I expect if I attend the show? Will I need my workout gear?Expect and evening of inspiration, information, and entertainment. Expect to be moved and motivated. No fitness gear required. If you want a workout, get one of ...

Something funny is going on at the GLCC. A new monthly event, Open Mind/Open Mic, is a chance for LGBT and LGBT-friendly comedians, singers, dancers, storytellers, and poets to perform in front of a live audience. The event, held every ...

Mr. Pittsburgh Leather Fetish, Joe Birdwell, won the title of Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather (MAL) 2014 at the Centaur Motorcycle Club’s MidAtlantic Leather competition. He was crowned over a three-day event in January. Joe became the fourth consecutive Mr. Pittsburgh Leather ...

Since 2003, Dreams of Hope, Pittsburgh’s only arts-focused lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth organization, has been championing LGBT issues through poetry, dance and spoken word. Artistic director Susan Haugh founded the group with a grant from the Pennsylvania Council ...

Black Gay Pittsburgh In this exploratory series, we ask Pittsburghers to share their stories about being black & gay in the city of black & gold. I’m Jason. I’m black. I’m gay. I live in Pittsburgh. A lot of people ...

Venice, Italy is unlike any other city – built entirely on water by men who defied the strength of the sea to create a Renaissance masterpiece.  To experience the Venetian way of life, you may travel on the vaporetti (water ...

It took the Supreme Court three months to make history for marriage equality in Windsor v. US. It took Attorney Vic Walczak two weeks later to make history again with a court case of his own. As Legal Director of ...

It was the coldest day of winter in Pittsburgh thus far, -7 degrees to be exact, yet I was internally ablaze as I dialed out to California to chat with comedic and lesbian icon, Suzanne Westenhoefer.  I had long since ...

Valentine’s Day…..the one day a year that is completely dedicated to romance and love.  But before you get stressed out with the thought of over-crowded restaurants, Hallmark stores bursting with cards, and chocolate heart boxes, all of which don’t sound ...

Outside of a Netflix or LOGO subscription, there aren’t many ways in which to access LGBT media in the Greater Pittsburgh area.  When blurry, low resolution YouTube snippets of “Queer as Folk,” your local library’s VHS version of “Bent” and ...

Black Gay Pittsburgh In this exploratory series, we ask Pittsburghers to share their stories about being black & gay in the city of black & gold. I don’t pretend to understand what drives us all to be accepted in a ...

Eric Pulaski has fallen in love with both men and women, but often his gay friends will insist that he has to choose men. “There’s no way you’re bisexual, just fully commit to being gay,” they’ll say to him, compared to ...

With Valentine’s Day approaching, getting a gift for your significant other can be tricky.  Because this holiday tends to carry more emotional weight than others, putting a little more thought into a gift may be required.  Adding a touch of ...

She’s been silent film star Mabel Normand, the Witch out of fairy tales, gun slinger Annie Oakley and uber-stage mother Mama Rose. She is Broadway legend Bernadette Peters, and she will be appearing live at the Carnegie Music Hall on ...

“Fifty Shades of Grey” by British author E.L. James is the first book in the Fifty Shades series that traces the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young business magnate, Christian Grey. It is notable for ...

The New Year has begun and it’s time to dust off last year’s New Year’s resolution and recycle it. Did anyone stay on their New Year’s resolution all of 2013? Did anyone make it past Valentine’s Day? Resolution is a ...

Selfies Yes, it was selected as Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year for 2013 and yes we are all walking around with a camera phone but it’s one trend that could never show its ugly face again (pun intended) and ...

January is National Mentoring Month What is a mentor? The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “an experienced and trusted adviser.” Whether we’re mindful of it or not, we all have had someone in our lives who has helped us transform ...

The Come Out Laughing tour was started by Jason Dudey in 2008 after he decided to launch a gay, gay-friendly, who-cares-whoyou-are-or-who’s-in-your-bed comedy show in Southern California. Because the regular monthly show in Long Beach at the world famous Laugh Factory ...

A community needed a voice and a space in Pittsburgh, now one year later, the efforts of Project Silk are continuing to move forward. With a space Downtown for young men and transgender women of color, the HIV prevention initiative ...

You wanna hot bodyYou wanna BugattiYou wanna MaseratiYou better work bitch. Britney Spears, from the song “Work Bitch” Happy New Year and welcome to 2014. ‘Tis the season of resolutions, but sadly most resolutions are broken shorty after they are ...

As you may know, Key West is one of my favorite places to actually get away. It embodies all of my escape essentials: Sun, unbeatable wine and cocktail selections, and fabulous dining options. I have traveled to Key West a ...

Losing weight? Saving money? Developing better habits? These are all common New Year’s resolutions but one of the things I resolve to do each year is to explore the Pittsburgh food scene. Pittsburgh has a wealth of amazing restaurants; I ...

In 2012, former Carnegie Mellon University graduate Matt Bomer came out of the closet. The actor, best known for his role on the television show White Collar, and his turn as a male stripper in Magic Mike, has becomean advocate ...

In 2013, a slew of celebrities came out of the closet, and, for the first time, a male pro athlete came out of the closet whilestill playing on a team. Two weeks into 2013, long-rumored-to-be lesbian Jodie Foster (“Silence of ...

The holidays are a time of giving, and a lot of LGBT organizations have gotten into the spirit. The Burgh Bears, a non-profit social group for bears (burly men) and their admirers, was created to promote both social and recreational ...

On Thursday, November 7, Monroeville Mall opened a 12 screen Cinemark theater with state-of-the-art XD (Extreme Digital Cinema), joining its other theaters in Center Township, Beaver County, Frazer near Tarentum and Robinson (plus the former Rave along McKnight Road in ...

The holidays are on the horizon and everyone is filling the malls looking to purchase this year’s hottest seasonal gifts – from the latest high tech gadgets, to winter 2014’s fashion trends. But what if the X-Box One and new ...

Need some ideas on what to get your partner, a family member or some friends this holiday season?  Does the idea of fighting the crowds at your local mall scare you more than the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come?  ...

Let’s face it, the traditional Holiday fruitcake gets a bad rep.  Say fruitcake, and the first thing you think of is an overly processed loaf.  This also brings words to mind like brick hardness, and gummy green and red chunks ...

As the weather gets colder and snow starts to swirl around the skyscrapers downtown, a number of events and artists’ markets are set to enhance the holiday atmosphere in the Golden Triangle this year. Curated to include many local artists ...

Growing up in the small rural, conservative town of Somerset, Pennsylvania, Brad Ankney was raised to believe that it was wrong to be gay.  He will tell you that he always knew that there was something different about him, but ...

In his new seventh floor office overlooking the city’s South Side, Bill Isler leans back to tell a story, one that illustrates all he has espoused in a four-decade career as educator, child advocate, and keeper of the legacy of ...

(A Sing along just for us girls.) On the first day of Christmas my lesbian lover gave to me: A pair of camo pants wrapped in loose leaf tea. On the second day of Christmas my lesbian lover gave to ...

Just 50 miles north of Pittsburgh, one of the country’s most conservative colleges has been ranked the most LGBT-unfriendly in the country by the Princeton Review. Grove City College was ranked at the top of a list compiled by student’s ...

In my best Estelle Getty impression, “Picture it, Thanksgiving, last year.” This probably brings back multiple emotions of the holiday. This could include smiles from the family being together and sharing stories, to the horror of Uncles and screaming children. ...

Former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy wasn’t at all surprised when labor representatives first approached his administration about offering health benefits to city workers in same-sex relationships. It was the Mayor himself who engineered the request. Working behind the scenes and ...

When University of Pittsburgh School of Law grad Carey Cummings accepted a position in May 2013 with Mintzer, Sarowitz, Zeris, Levda and Meyers LLP, a regional insurance defense law firm, little did she know how supportive they would be of ...

I get asked regularly, “What is your favorite city?” The truth is that I do not have just one……but, I do have my favorites. And one of them is Chicago. The primary reason I love Chicago so much is that ...

February 7, 2003, Pennsylvania enacted a 2710, a statute defining hate crimes. Pennsylvania law-makers called it Ethnic Intimidation: A person commits the offense of ethnic intimidation if, with malicious intention toward race, color, religion or national origin of another individual ...

On October 6, a violent incident sent shockwaves through the LGBT community when five young men committed an assault (read hate crime) in Lawrenceville. The suspects ruthlessly beat two unarmed men for being affectionate to one another in public. Benjamin ...

“If you loved “Waiting to Exhale” by Terry McMillan, I highly recommend you read “Who Asked You?” This book took me on an unpredictable roller-coaster of emotions. I could relate with many of the same struggles the characters, especially Betty, ...