Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents, founded by Northsider Sue Kerr, won the award for “Outstanding Blog” in the 30th annual GLAAD Media Awards.

By Amanda Andrews

Photo by Shannon Kenyon

Northside LGBTQ activist and blogger Sue Kerr recently received special recognition for her commitment to her blog Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents. The blog, which Kerr founded in December 2005, won the award for Outstanding Blog in the 30th annual GLAAD Media Awards.

The other contenders included Gays With Kids, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, My Fabulous Disease and TransGriot.

GLAAD is a national LGBTQ organization that is viewed as a leader in LGBTQ media coverage, advocacy and education. It places particular emphasis on discrimination prevention and recognition of accomplishments by LGBTQ activists. Originally, GLAAD stood for Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation when created in 1985, but, in 2013, the organization decided to exclusively use the acronym GLAAD in order to include the bisexual and transgender communities.

Kerr works on the blog along with her partner Laura Dunhoff and fellow blogger Trish Mifflin, but as the blog’s founder and editor-in-chief, she felt a certain pride at winning the Outstanding Blog award after two consecutive nominations.

“…It was an honor to be nominated [for] the last two years, but winning is just so…wow,” Kerr said. “I don’t have a good word to describe it. What it does mean though for me is this validation of something I’ve worked hard at for 14 years, and also the idea that what a middle-aged, white, cisgender, queer, disabled woman has to say has meaning and value.”

According to Kerr, a blog typically lasts nine days. If the blogger is lucky, theirs may last for two to three years on average. Kerr’s proudest accomplishment is that she’s kept her blog running for 14 years. Her blog, she said, was the longest term commitment she ever made in her life, besides maintaining her relationship with her partner.

Kerr said her national win has received little attention from local media outlets, a reaction Kerr likened to the queer experience—being seen and not seen simultaneously.

“The social worker in me, which is always the community organizer in me, which is always looking at these things from a systemic, institutional point of view, was surprised because I read the local paper and I watch the news every day. They cover everything, if you win anything,” said Kerr. “I really just expected that there would be some acknowledgment, not just for me personally, but for Pittsburgh’s queer community and for Pittsburgh and for southwestern [Pennsylvania].”

Nonetheless, GLAAD Chief Communications Officer, Rich Ferraro, commented specifically on Kerr’s win in an article published by GLAAD:

“LGBTQ people rely on the important work of bloggers and LGBTQ media outlets to highlight the diverse issues affecting our community,” said Ferraro. “With Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents, Sue Kerr demonstrates what it means to use to your platform to create real change and accelerate LGBTQ acceptance.”