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Happy Monday, besties.
Daylight Saving Time rolled in this weekend and said, “Congratulations, it’s spring now. Also, we’re stealing an hour of your life.”
We lost an hour of sleep. We lost an hour of afters. Somewhere in Pittsburgh, a vibe was just getting into its groove when the clock said, “Actually, it’s 3 a.m. now. Go home.” A crime. A cultural loss. A direct attack on queer nightlife.
But we persist.
On the bright side, the sun is out later, spring is creeping closer, we’re one step closer to crop-top weather, and the collective queer delusion that we are about to become outdoor brunch people is officially activated. Because if there’s one thing queer people know how to do, it’s adapt to chaotic timelines. We’ve been inventing our own time zones for decades.
The energy this week is simple: Slightly sleep-deprived. Mildly feral. Still slaying anyway.
Let’s do this.
SLAY OF THE WEEK: Patti Rice & PFLAG Pittsburgh
This week’s Slay of the Week goes to Patti Rice, interim president of PFLAG Pittsburgh, and the incredible community of parents, families, and allies who make the organization what it is.
PFLAG, the nation’s largest nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ people and those who love them, has been showing up for Pittsburgh families through support meetings, education, advocacy, and simple but powerful acts of care. And for Patti, it all started when her son Gavin came out at 16.
What followed was a journey that took her through multiple PFLAG chapters across the country and ultimately to Pittsburgh, where she now helps lead a community built on one simple idea that no one should have to navigate this journey alone.
From creating spaces where parents can ask hard questions to helping families find hope when they’re scared or overwhelmed, PFLAG’s work often begins in moments of vulnerability and turns them into moments of connection.
As Patti puts it, sometimes people arrive at their first meeting barely able to talk. But by the end, something shifts. They realize they’re not alone.
READER JOY SUBMISSION from Jessey
Sometimes joy shows up in quiet, tender ways.
Jessey (they/them) wrote in to share a poem about seeing their girlfriend more clearly and more deeply as she prepares for facial feminization surgery (FFS) and about the kind of love that grows when you witness someone becoming the truest version of themselves.
Jessey told us they sometimes worry their poetry is “kinda cringey,” but honestly? Expressing love this openly is the opposite of cringe. It’s brave. It’s real. And it’s exactly the kind of joy we love to share here.
Here’s their poem:
It’s hard for me
To envision a version of you
That is somehow more beautiful
And I need to remind myself
That my imagination is limited,
That I can’t fathom the joy I will feel
As you become the version of yourself
that you’ve wanted to be for so long
But what I do know
is that I can’t wait to see
The smile on our face
When you look in the mirror
And see her looking back.
Jessey, thank you for sharing this moment with us. Love like this is its own kind of queer magic.
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.
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Today’s issue of Slay Weekly is sponsored by Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
Hey yinz! We. Won’t. Be. Erased. We need you to take the 2026 Pennsylvania LGBTQIA+ Health Survey! From the northwest corner of Erie, to the Steel City of Pittsburgh, to the beauty of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, to where Liberty rings, in all of Pennsylvania, every LGBTQIA+ voice matters and so do our health needs!
This survey keeps data anonymous, is community-powered, and the results will be shared with organizations across the state to support research, apply for grant funding, and inform programming to aid the health and wellness of LGBTQIA+ folks.
You can take this survey if you are LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, etc.), live in Pennsylvania, and are 13 years or older.
Take the survey TODAY at QBurgh.com/2026lgbtsurvey to get your voice heard or click the link in the description below!
This survey is done in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and PHMC, a non-profit organization that develops the survey tool and summarizes all findings. Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center also works with 30+ LGBTQ+ community organizations across the state to make sure that the voices of all identities within the community are reflected in the data.
Thank you!
QUEER JOY IN THE WORLD: Wig-to-Wig Chaos
Pittsburgh drag is about to go full comedy battle royale.
Local queens JoeMyGosh and Snoozy Q are heading to Orlando later this month to compete in the National Miss Comedy Queen pageant and the twist? They’re from the same drag family.
That’s right. Members of Pittsburgh’s gloriously chaotic Goon Squad (aka the House of Medical Malpractice) are about to go wig-to-wig on a national stage.
Both queens are proud practitioners of “bad drag,” a campy, chaotic style that rejects polish in favor of joy, weirdness, and maximum ridiculousness. Think big laughs, messy brilliance, and performances that feel more like a queer fever dream than a traditional pageant number.
And while the headline might suggest rivalry, the real story is a drag family piling into cars with way too many suitcases and heading to Florida together to support their sisters.
Comedy Queen history already includes Pittsburgh legends like Blade Matthews and Dixie Surewood, so expectations are high and the chaos is guaranteed.
QUEER RECOMMENDATION: Kiss of the Spider Woman
Queer cinema lovers, this one just landed on your watchlist.
The 2025 film Kiss of the Spider Woman, directed by Bill Condon and starring Jennifer Lopez, has just been added to Hulu, bringing a bold new adaptation of the legendary queer story to streaming.
Based on the acclaimed stage musical (and originally the groundbreaking 1976 novel), the story unfolds inside a prison cell where two very different men form an unlikely bond. One escapes into elaborate fantasies about a glamorous movie star, played by Lopez, whose cinematic world becomes both refuge and revelation.
Expect drama, dazzling musical moments, political tension, and a whole lot of queer emotional intensity.
If the title sounds familiar, it’s because Kiss of the Spider Woman has been a cornerstone of queer storytelling for decades, and this new version introduces the story to a whole new generation.
Fire up Hulu, settle in, and prepare for a little classic queer cinema magic.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Holding Queer Memory
Pittsburgh’s queer history didn’t just survive. People made sure of it.
This week we’re spotlighting Harrison Apple, co-director of the Pittsburgh Queer History Project, whose work helps preserve the stories, spaces, and everyday artifacts of LGBTQ life in the city.
What began in 2009 with a simple task of helping clean out an old nightclub turned into a long-term commitment to documenting queer nightlife, ballroom culture, activism, and the personal ephemera that often gets discarded: flyers, journals, drink receipts, and even crumpled notes.
For Harrison, those fragments matter. Each one tells a story about how people gathered, loved, protested, and lived their lives in Pittsburgh’s queer community. Through oral histories and careful archival work, the Pittsburgh Queer History Project helps ensure those memories aren’t lost while also respecting that some stories belong only to the people who lived them.
Queer history isn’t just about the past. It’s about how we carry those stories forward and how we keep showing up for one another now.
Read and watch more about Harrison Apple and the Pittsburgh Queer History Project at QBurgh.com →
THE QUEER AGENDA:
Three ways to get out, get queer, and get a little joy this week.
Tuesday, March 10
Stay Gay Book Club
7:00 PM at Stay Gold Books
This month, the Stay Gay Book Club is diving into Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian, a fascinating exploration of how queerness shows up across the natural world.
Come for the science. Stay for the queer ecological revelations and cozy bookshop vibes.
Wednesday, March 11
Survivor 50 Watch Party
8:00 PM at Harold’s Haunt
Fifty seasons of blindsides, alliances, and dramatic torch snuffings deserve a proper celebration.
Head to Harold’s Haunt to watch Survivor 50 with fellow fans who know the difference between a good strategy and a chaotic one. Expect commentary, reactions, and maybe a few “I would’ve played that idol differently” moments.
Thursday, March 12
Karaoke with Eddieoke
9:30 PM at P Town Bar
A Pittsburgh queer nightlife institution. Eddieoke has been hosting karaoke for over 20 years, which means he’s seen every song choice imaginable — from heartfelt power ballads to fully unhinged late-night performances.
Grab the mic, bring your friends, and sing like you’ve got nothing to prove.
And as always, this is just a slice of what’s happening — explore the full community calendar at QBurgh.com/events.
More events this week →
Alright babes, gather round.
Yes, the clocks stole an hour of sleep. Yes, we are still emotionally recovering from it. Yes, some of you were absolutely robbed of a full hour of afters on Saturday night, and frankly, we will be filing complaints.
But here we are. Still standing. Slightly caffeinated. Mildly unhinged. Thriving anyway.
This week, we’ve got book clubs, karaoke legends, comedy queens driving suitcases full of wigs to Florida, and a reminder that there are parents like Patti Rice out there building entire support systems for our community.
In other words, the gays are busy and blessed.
So, as you head into this week, remember a few important truths: Spring is plotting its entrance. Patio brunch is coming. And somewhere in Pittsburgh, a drag queen is packing six wigs for a road trip and absolutely none of them match the outfit.
Stay hydrated. Text your queer friends. Try one new thing this week. And if all else fails, simply lie down dramatically and call it performance art.
We’ll be back next Monday with more queer joy, more chaos, and more reasons to believe this community is pretty incredible.
Now go forth and slay the week. Talk soon.