City of Pittsburgh Honors Life and Death of Trans Trailblazer Wendi Miller (July 14, 1947 — April 6, 2023)

Saturday, April 8, 2023 Declared “Wendi Miller Day”

Coming out in the late 1990s brought me into the orbit of some of the iconic community leaders whose courage and prescience during the 1980s and 1990s laid the groundwork for the rights and privileges LGBTQ+ folx enjoy today in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania. I didn’t know them per se, but I ran into them at events, I listened to their speeches, I met ‘mutuals’ and generally grew in my appreciation of their sacrifices and accomplishments.

It has been a great honor for me to have those opportunities.

Living as an out LGBTQ+ person in those decades was precarious and brave, creating a space to literally create spaces for those of us who came afterwards to live authentically and with a degree of breathing space they didn’t enjoy. Living as an out trans person was even more so.

Wendi Miller was such a person.

Wendi died this past week. Her life stretched from July 14, 1947 to April 6, 2023. And today, April 8, had already been declared Wendi Miller Day by a Proclamation from Pittsburgh City Counc il. Wendi was in hospice care, but able to watch the livestream feed of the unanimous vote…