Pittsburgh LGBTQ blog's crowdfunding campaign is reclaiming the word 'snowflake'

Ten years ago, Pittsburgh saw one of its biggest snowstorms in history and ominously named it “Snowmageddon.”

Though it caused the region to largely shut down, and gave many residents headaches that go along with having several major services struggling to operate, Sue Kerr remembers seeing beautiful things too.

"It is pure coincidence that everything came together to launch today, the 10th anniversary of Snowmageddon," said Kerr, a local blogger and social worker, in a press release. "I have vivid memories of how the snowfall shut down the region, as well as who showed up to keep things running."

And so, Kerr is starting a crowdfunding campaign to honor the snowflake. She is hoping to provide more funds for her blog, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents, which breaks news stories, covers LGBTQ happenings in the region, and provides a platform for LGBTQ Pittsburghers to tell their personal stories.

“If you believe in LGBTQ liberation, feminism, racial justice, disability justice, protecting homeless animals, strong safety nets, healthcare access, and the science of climate change … this might be an opportunity for you,” said Kerr. “You can directly invest in a snowflake that supports this work.”

What a day to celebrate #snowflakes! You can buy your very own #SteelCitySnowflakes at whatever price you like https://t.co/AEBe88JwnY Support progressive values and be cool! pic.twitter.com/BtW2RnDggk

— Sue Kerr (@PghLesbian24) February 7, 2020

The project is a collaboration with the F. Dok Harris Initiative, Code4Good, and individual coding advisers. People can donate at the Steel City Snowflakes website and when they do, a digital snowflake will appear and float over the screen. Visitors can learn more about each donation by hovering the cursor over each snowflake.

Kerr said she wanted to highlight the snowflake to turn what has become a right-wing attack against liberals and left-leaning people on its head.

“The first time I heard the word snowflake used as an insult, I envisioned an army of snow-covered people shoveling neighbors sidewalks and digging out cars,” reads the project page on Kerr’s website. “I thought of science and how a snowflake is a powerful force that gains strength from its connection to millions of other flakes, never being destroyed but simply changing form until being reborn in the atmosphere.”

Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents blog is a regular Pittsburgh City Paper Best of winner, and even nabbed a GLAAD media award for best local LGBTQ blog in the country in 2019.