Queer nostalgia: noun. \ˈkwir\ \nä-ˈstal-jə\. A longing for the sense of community created by past experiences of marginality. This spring, after hearing about some research funding available for undergraduates interested in archival research, I began exploring Pittsburgh’s gay newspapers of ...
There’s a local bar that I used to visit at least weekly. It was my LGBT establishment of choice for the great specials and location. During one of my visits there, I noticed they were hiring for a variety of ...
We need to take a moment and give a round of applause for the brave group of students who, with the help from Lambda Legal, are filing a discrimination lawsuit against the Pine-Richland School District in the North Hills. Juliet Evancho, Elissa ...
A few weeks ago I had my first ever Steel City Roller Derby experience at their 10th anniversary bout against Toronto. I’m someone that can get into just about any sport, so I obviously enjoyed watching dozens of badass women ...
It’s dark and loud…very loud. There are random flashes of lights, matching the pulsating beat. It’s crowded around me, packed to capacity. I stand very still while everyone else is moving. The music isn’t typically what I’d listen to, but ...
PICTURE IT, PITTSBURGH. The year was 2005 and I was bartending at RK’s Lounge, shopping at a Pleasant Present, having dinner at Sidekicks, and dancing for hours at Pegasus. I have tons of fond memories of this time as I ...
The love affair between the American traveler and Italy has long been one of the most satisfying relationships in history. Young or old, alone or in groups, budget-conscious or luxury-seeking, every traveler can stimulate their senses each time they visit. ...
THE WIPERS SCRAPED VIGOROUSLY AGAINST MY windshield, awakening me from a daydream as I sat idle at the intersection, missing my green light. The rain had stopped minutes prior and I was too preoccupied in the blissful silence inside of ...
THE HEAVY DOOR OF THE HOLIDAY BAR WOULD SLAM hard at an earsplitting level behind whoever has just passed through it. This racket would cause the patrons sitting at the bar to simultaneously look up from their drinks and turn ...
THE PERSONA OF ANGEL HAZE ON SOCIAL MEDIA IS pretty typical of someone in their early twenties: self-consciously critical, not taking herself seriously even as she pays serious attention to the world around her. The persona of Angel Haze in ...
WHEN RAPPER FLO RIDA’S “RIGHT ROUND” HIT NUMBER ONE, it had unexpected consequences for one particular young girl. In 2009, Kesha was an uncredited collaborator on the chart-busting single. And all of a sudden, people began to take notice of ...
I had a revelation recently. It was regarding something that had been told to me many times before but I wasn’t ready or open to hearing it. I was talking to a friend who asked me a simple question: “Did ...
I do not remember when exactly my mom told me that she was a lesbian, but I do remember a series of unfortunate events that surrounded it. My parents had divorced when I was three years old, my father had ...
“My dad once told me that his biggest challenge after returning from Vietnam had been coming to terms with his own callousness. He’d made a deal with the war and traded his humanity for a ticket home.” Tucker Elliot, “The ...
Bisexuality can be a confusing topic because people define it in many different ways. What is bisexuality? The answer varies, depending upon who is asking the question. Is bisexuality defined by identity, behavior, attractions – or some combination of these? ...
I am living proof that what conversion therapy can destroy, self-acceptance can save. Sam Brinton Months before my seventh-grade year, I realized I had a crush on my best friend, who happened to be male. I was too young to ...
Ten years ago I lived in an apartment on Butler Street in Lawrenceville. I think my rent was $650 a month for a huge two bedroom apartment with a one car garage. I lived there for three years before I ...
Today, it is no longer a question of whether one is simply HIV-positive or HIV-negative. Now there are additional statuses like Poz Undetectable and Neg on PreP. The need to discriminate based solely on status is becoming more and more ...
At last year’s Pennsylvania AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh, members unanimously passed a nondiscrimination resolution and created the foundation for Pennsylvania to have its first charter of Pride at Work. Pride at Work is a nonprofit organization that represents LGBT union ...
Recently I’ve had the opportunity to go through my boxes of memorabilia that I’ve collected over the years. Since I’ve been an activist on LGBT issues since 1969, and here in PA since 1971, it makes me one of the ...
In the past year, clergy and lay faith leaders in the Pittsburgh area and across Pennsylvania have been stepping up to show unprecedented public support for LGBT equality. They know that the right and loving thing to do is to ...
The Republic of Cuba, with a population of 11 million, is the largest of the Antilles Islands, separating the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico to the north, from the Caribbean Sea to the south. It is 775 miles long ...
At the GLCC, workers and volunteers have experience not only with daunting statistics connecting homelessness and poverty to the LGBT community, but also needs directly from the realities of visitors. Sue Kerr, social media manager at the center, recited numbers ...
On Aug. 24, 1989, my husband and I were blessed with the birth of identical twin girls… or so we believed at the time. From the age of 4, Liz was determined to dress, look, and act differently than Diane. ...
At first, Terry Mutchler says she and state Senator Penny Severns kept their relationship a secret because Mutchler led the Associated Press statehouse bureau chief in Illinois. For a journalist to have a relationship with a source is a major ...
Las Vegas, Nevada, is becoming one of the top destinations in the United States for LGBT visitors. Founded on the pursuit of pleasure and sensory stimulation, Las Vegas offers its LGBT guests a variety of entertainment options. World-renown as the ...
It’s that time of year again… the leaves are changing colors and falling all around us. The days are becoming shorter while the nights are growing colder. Lesbians are aggressively searching for camping gear and pulling chunky sweaters from closets. ...
While here in the United States LGBT people have continued to celebrate as more and more states grants marriage equality, the fight to be recognized as more than second-class citizens is very different in Uganda. In February, the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality ...
November isn’t just the start of the holiday season; it’s also the kickoff to wedding planning season. Every winter, dozens of local wedding shows give couples the opportunity to meet different florists, photographers, and other vendors in one convenient spot. ...
Here are five fun things to do for Halloween in Pittsburgh. You might be too old to go door-to-door looking for candy, but we have a few fall activities for Halloween. A Phantom’s Revenge Looking for some cheap thrills? Okay, ...
Recent strides have been made in combating homophobia and intolerance within America’s athletic communities, but who knew that for decades, long before the emergence of Jason Collins and Michael Sam, there was this quintessential American sport inadvertently working to bridge ...
1. BIG BOO (Orange Is the New Black) – The trouble with dressing as Big Boo is that we may not know if you’re in costume or if you’re just hanging out and it may cause an uncomfortable silence. 2. ...
More than 300 people from Pride organizations all over the world will gather in Pittsburgh, but when they return to organize their local events, the reach of the 32nd Annual InterPride Conference set for Oct. 22 to 26 in Pittsburgh. ...
For over 20 years Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, has been host to the LOVE Dance over the July 4th holiday to benefit “Create a More Positive” Rehoboth, or affectionately called CAMP Rehoboth, and this year’s event was billed as “the biggest ...
British singer/songwriter Neon Hitch will be taking it to the streets of Shadyside on Friday, October 24 on Ellsworth Avenue for a Halloween spooktacular “Nightmare on Hellsworth.” The appearance is part of the queen of gypsy pop’s “Yard Sale Tour,” ...
It’s autumn, and death is in the air. Dried, brown leaves crunch underfoot as summer gardens succumb to the first frost. Suburban front yards are dotted with tombstones, while skeletons, zombies and other ghouls ring doorbells in pursuit of candy. ...
Mitch Leib loves movies. As the Executive Director Reel Q, Pittsburgh’s International LGBT Film festival, Leib is proud to introduce you to a slew of new movies for the 29th Annual festival. Leib has been with the Lesbian and Gay ...
If you think about being Jewish in Pittsburgh you can’t help but to think about Squirrel Hill. Who hasn’t made that connection? After all – it was estimated that 33% of Pittsburgh’s Jewish population lived there at one point. With ...
Dear Steel Town Lesbian, I need your help. I recently moved to Pittsburgh from the west coast and I’ve been looking to meet women here, however, my efforts have been futile. Almost instantly after arriving and settling in, I googled ...
Barcelona, on the Mediterranean Sea at the northern coast of Spain, resonates with excitement and adventure during every step of your visit. A truly cosmopolitan city, Barcelona has not erased its history, but rather embraced and enhanced it with the ...
Survey after survey shows the hesitation, awkward discussion and unaddressed issues that result from not having that conversation. Quite frankly, many consider it none of the doctor’s business. But even in the 21st century, the LGBT community still suffers from ...
Need to check calories on a meal you’re having at a chain restaurant? Want to watch movies, television or listen to music from your device? There are apps for that! TRANSQUAT What about an app to help members of the ...
After making the decision to transition from male to female in 2009, Allie Gray, of the South Hills, says she made a grim promise to herself – one that she no longer plans to keep. “I told myself a few ...
Edward Ryan is an unassuming convivial man, a man at the forefront of the gay rights movement. Ryan, now living at a supportive long-term care facility in East Liberty, recalls the night he was arrested at the seminal evening that ...
Named for a Pittsburgh area social worker, a new project at the Gay & Lesbian Community Center aims to give LGBT people a place to find resources for personal hygiene products if they are financially not able to buy them. ...
When Chelsa Wagner married her husband in 2008, her political detractors said she’d never win an office again. Her husband, Khari Mosley, is black, and she was serving as state representative for the 22nd district, which encompasses Pittsburgh’s South Side, ...
The Pegasus Lounge on Liberty Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh has a long and storied history. According to Ancient Greek Mythology, the Pegasus was born from the blood spilled by Medusa, the most beautiful of the three sisters, who would live ...
Founded in May 2012, the Pittsburgh Queer History Project (PQHP) is an ongoing oral history and media preservation initiative, founded by Harrison Apple. Beginning with the excavation of an abandoned East Liberty after-hours club, the PQHP grew in scope to ...
Quality ingredients = quality product. As a chef, I have several rules I live by. One is to take pride in your food. That rule however, is not exactly how you make it, but what you make it with. The ...