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Sometimes joy arrives with fireworks, a packed dance floor, or hundreds of people marching down the street.
And sometimes it’s much quieter.
It’s sitting around a fire with people who understand you. It’s painting one tiny piece of something that you know will eventually become much bigger. It’s sending a few kind words to someone because what they created made your Monday a little brighter.
Those moments might seem small, but they add up.
Community has always been built this way. One person makes room. Another shows up. Someone offers kindness. Someone else carries it forward.
As August rolls along and summer somehow keeps moving faster than we’d like, this week’s Slay Weekly is an appreciation of those little acts of joy, care, and connection that become something much bigger when we put them together.
Happy Monday, Pittsburgh. Let’s find some joy and slay the week.
SLAY OF THE WEEK: Queer Joy Under the Stars
This week’s Slay of the Week goes to Ray of Sunshine Campground and owner Kat St. Pierre, who’s creating a little queer refuge among the fields and forests of Mercer County.
Kat is the seventh generation of her family to work this 123-acre farm, and now she’s sharing part of that legacy with LGBTQ+ people and others looking for a welcoming place to unplug, get outside, and experience rural Pennsylvania on their own terms.
Ray of Sunshine isn’t trying to cram as many campers as possible into one field, either. Its tent sites, cabins, and backpacking spots are intentionally spread out, giving visitors the increasingly rare luxury of a little peace and quiet.
But our favorite part might be the community Kat is cultivating alongside it. A recent queer fireside chat brought together people from Pittsburgh and rural communities including Oil City and nearby Clark to talk, connect, and share their experiences of being queer in this corner of Pennsylvania.
Some participants have already booked another visit.
Sometimes queer community looks like a nightclub packed until closing, and sometimes it looks like a campfire surrounded by new friends, fireflies flickering in the darkness, and a sky full of stars.
Thank you, Kat, for making room for both.
Now that’s a slay.
Reader Joy from Di: “Just What I Needed”
This week’s Reader Joy is short, sweet, and honestly made our day.
Di wrote: “I just want to thank you for your weekly updates. They are so positive! Just what I needed today. TY!!”
Di, thank you.
Slay Weekly started with the pretty simple idea that the world gives LGBTQ+ people plenty of reasons to feel exhausted, angry, or overwhelmed. What if, just once a week, we made room for the other stuff?
The joy. The kindness. The weird little adventures. The people doing good things. The stories that make you smile.
Knowing that it reached you on a day when you needed a little positivity is exactly why we keep doing this every Monday.
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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The August 2026 QBurgh newspaper is out EVERYWHERE. Did you miss it?
Queer Joy in the World: A Thousand Little Pieces of Belonging
Sometimes the artwork is beautiful. And sometimes the story of how it was made makes it even more beautiful.
Around 60 older adults from Presbyterian SeniorCare Network’s Oakmont campus recently spent five weeks painting more than 1,000 wooden circles, hexagons, and squares.
Together, those individual pieces became “Bridges and Belonging,” a large mosaic created as a gift for the residents of Mosaic Apartments in Oakland.
The project began during Pride Month and celebrates community, diversity, and support for LGBTQ+ people. Earlier this month, the finished piece was unveiled at Mosaic Apartments, western Pennsylvania’s first LGBTQ+-friendly affordable housing community.
There’s something especially joyful about generations coming together this way. Dozens of people contributed their own little piece. No single circle, square, or hexagon could tell the entire story. Together, they created something beautiful. That’s a pretty wonderful metaphor for community, too.
Here’s to the people who keep adding their piece.
Maybe that’s the lesson we’re carrying into this week. Don’t underestimate the little things.
Invite someone to sit around the fire. Paint your piece of the mosaic. Send the kind message. Make room for somebody who needs it. Tell someone their work mattered to you.
None of those gestures would make headline news. Most won’t get an Instagram post. You might not even remember doing them a year from now.
But someone else might.
Community isn’t built entirely through enormous moments. More often, it’s thousands of small choices made by people who decide to care about one another. And every one of us gets to add something.
So as another beautiful summer week begins, go add your little piece to the mosaic.
We’ll see you next Monday.
Talk soon.
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