First Class seats, a private car with a driver, and a luxurious suite in the most opulent hotel…these are all things that comprise a fabulous vacation and NONE of the things that I had when I went cage diving with ...

Pittsburgh is famous for many things: hockey, football, baseball, the sandwiches with the French fries on them, but none of these are as sweet as Klavon’s Ice cream Parlor. In 1932, James and his wife Mary Klavon opened Klavon’s as ...

Politics. Wait! Don’t turn the page. This is about the good side of politics. Yes, it exists. There are those in the political world that use their powers for the benefit of mankind and, in this case, man-on-mankind. People like ...

Does your boyfriend watch the Twilight movies religiously? Is your “roommate” obsessed with the Transformers series? Before you drive a sparkly stake through your eye or jump in front of an 18 wheeler, you may want to consider an option ...

Coors Brewing Company is the biggest brewery supporting the LGBTQ community, and has been since 1993. Coors encouraged the organization of its gay and lesbian employees into the Lesbian and Gay Employee Resource (LAGER) in 1993. In May 1995, Coors ...

I’m a girl, raised in the south. And I’m a lesbian. I moved to Pittsburgh almost five years ago. I was born and raised in a small redneck town in Georgia, just within the metro Atlanta area. Being out in ...

2012 was a watershed moment in American politics and gay and lesbian rights. The winds of change were fast and furious, and change came sooner than many expected. The President of the United States and the Vice President not only ...

If better health and a longer life aren’t motivating enough to get you to exercise, then maybe more and better sex will do the trick. Read on to find out how regular exercise promotes a rockin’ sex life. Research shows ...

You could fit into a compact what I know about drag so, naturally, who better to interview Pittsburgh’s own Alaska Thunderfck? Yes, you read that right. Alaska Thunderfck. The local queen who describes herself as “big, beautiful, and bat sht ...

It is that time of year again. The time when television sales spike, party lists are composed, pizzas are ordered at astonishingrates, and millions flock to their living rooms to watch who will take home the ultimate trophy. Yes, Super ...

Brian K. Sims is not only a civil rights advocate, but he’s also a policy attorney, public speaker, and the first openly LGBT individual to be elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and to the Pennsylvania Legislature. He represents ...

A little drag and a little Broadway? We’re in. Priscilla Queen of the Desert, coming March 5 through 10 to the Benedum Center, features more than 500 costumes and 200 pairs of shoes, says ensemble member Alex DeLeo. “It’s pretty ...

“All of our members are equal.” This mantra is one of the cornerstones of the LGBT cause, and it’s also the slogan for the Riverset Credit Union. “We don’t have stockholders,” Lisa Florian, director of business development and marketing at ...

Like most of us writers, Nikki Allen started to write whenever she was old enough to pick up a pen. The words she writes are inspiring. (I would compare them to a ripe peach, juicy: delicious, and you cannot get ...

Small roads, smaller cars and the smallest bathing suits you’ve ever seen (if there are bathing suits at all). And this is only the beginning of what you will see during a visit to St. Barts, an island nestled in ...

SQUARE CAFE I would venture to say the Square Cafe has the BEST coffee mugs in the city. Heavy, with a comfortable handle and they hold A LOT of coffee. In addition to their spectacular coffee mugs and coffee, the ...

You may have seen James Craig training for his next marathon, running the streets of Pittsburgh. Or maybe you’ve seen him sipping cocktails at Spin or perhaps eating at Verde with his boyfriend. But this man about town also often ...

UPDATE: On February 6, 2013, the Boys Scouts released the following statement: “After careful consideration and extensive dialogue within the Scouting family, along with comments from those outside the organization, the volunteer officers of the Boy Scouts of American’s Executive ...

On January 16, Pittsburgh’s own PNC Park hosted the Safe Schools Summit: Bridging The Gap Between Anti-Bullying Efforts & The Experience of LGBTQ Youth. The Safe Schools Project is designed to ask and answer the question, “What will it take ...

We all know the names of the more mainstream sexualities — gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual. But there are a few other sexual orientations which aren’t as well known, let alone recognized, by the socalled “mainstream LGBTQ” community. For example, if ...

“Get into the snow” is what I heard every year during ski season. Growing up in Pittsburgh, most of us remember that catchy phrase from the Seven Springs commercials. As a skier, this was my signal to get my skies ...

Slam Mamns By most accounts, the style of spoken word poetry known as “slam” was started by a working-class poet in a Chicago jazz club in the 1980s. So it’s fitting that our own city of industrial roots is home ...

Why are people so surprised when men in power become involved in sex scandals? It seems to happen so often that we should be used to it. But the latest is one of the biggest surprises: It involved General David ...

Today, she’s chair of a group that provides legal advice to domestic partners, but when she first moved to Pittsburgh 16 years ago, the plight of same-sex couples was relatively foreign to Baltimore lawyer Maureen Cohon. “There were so many ...

When I first met Alex, he was Allison. We went to the same school, and my only thought whenever I would see him was, “She is just like me.” Being an open lesbian in a small town has more than ...

“I feel fine… so why do I need to regularly see a doctor?!” First of all, I admit my bias. I’m a physician, so o f course I’m gonna tell you to make time for a check-up, right?! But there ...

Drag queens. Belly dancers. Boa constrictors. Drummers. Flamenco dancers. Jazz songs. Circus acts. What do these things have in common? They could be part of a Phat Man Dee show. Mandee has gone from circus performer to cosmic jazz chanteuse; ...

Every January, albeit temporary, health and fitness facilities around the country experience an onslaught of new members and an increase in attendance of existing members. Inevitably, attendance begins to taper off as the year progresses. So, what steps can we ...

Picture it. Chicago. 2001. Silvano Gallego headed into the animal shelter on a bright springtime afternoon, intent on finding a new family member. Love came in the form of a four-month-old silver tabby that he dubbed “Luna.” Being a responsible ...

With 2013 upon us and New Year’s resolutions underway, I want to dedicate this article to helping everyone maintain their goals and ALSO eating them— err, meeting them. Let’s make 2013 the year to share with others, support others, and ...

During college, I was known first for being gay, and second for being a member of the field hockey team, whether I liked it or not. I loved playing a team sport — the camaraderie, the collective sense of accomplishment ...

Vanessa German’s show at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts was brilliant, moving, and thought-provoking. Willam Belli made a stop in Pittsburgh to a packed and delighted crowd at Cattivo. Her performance was hilarious and energetic, but she had some ...

Worried about your holiday season in Pittsburgh without hockey? Don’t be. Here’s a winter to-do list sure to make this season full of adventure! 1. Spice up your taste buds at Pittsburgh’s Restaurant Week 2013! January 10 kicks off the ...

John Kandray is an openly gay employee at Ernst & Young, one of the world’s leading professional services organizations. He started with E&Y 10 years ago on the help desk and was promoted to project manager, a position he has ...

By now, your holiday lights have likely been stored and your evergreens kicked to the curb. But what about those leftover potted plants? You know the ones — the last-minute gifts you received from gracious dinner guests, the late season ...

“Most people think a role like mine [is to have] responsibility for recruitment and training,” says CastleberrySingleton. “Our efforts are focused on employee engagement.” Pittsburgh is a state of its own. “California is a large state with lots of individuality,” ...

Meet Jeanna Rayman. She loves sports. She grew up in North Huntingdon, playing everything from softball to tennis. An adorable aside: Jeanna even met her girlfriend, Lacey, playing basketball. “We were playing on opposing teams when I finally realized she ...

What do lesbians bring on a second date? A U-Haul. As self-deprecating as that joke actually is, it’s also a slap in the face of reality. Women certainly share a bond that is untouchable. The empathy, the emotion, and the ...

Have you spent the past month celebrating those history-making election victories for LGBT rights? Then, maybe you should write Squirrel Hill native Evan Wolfson a thank-you note. The founder and president of the Freedom to Marry Coalition was, after all, ...

You know that moment when something important from your tweenage years smacks you in the back of the head? We’ve all got parts of our awkward young selves tucked away out of mind, happily forgotten so we can go on ...

Three and a half years ago, William Wingo went to the Animal Rescue League to find a friend. He walked down rows of sad, whiny, barking dogs until he saw her: a honey-colored pit bull with matching eyes. “She stood ...

Remember that one holiday season when all of the shopping was done in early December, your to-do list was compact, concise, and full of crossed-off items; every person you exchanged gifts with got a little misty-eyed after opening their present, ...

After a campaign that seemed longer than President Obama’s first term, the advertisements are gone, vitriol has disappeared, and the result is clear and resolute: President Obama has been reelected. Despite unemployment numbers and an economy that many view astenuous, ...