Eight Things I Learned During Eight Weeks of Being Locked Out of My Home — Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents

Today is a day of celebration — my birthday and the 2 year anniversary of Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities, the 501c3 I established in 2021. Today, I learned a lot from both.

Also, today marks eight weeks since I was locked out of my home against my will and kept from returning to my cats, returning to my life.

However, my friends are cooking me a nice meal and my nephew baked me a cake. So I can take a moment to reflect on what I’ve learned during these weeks. I learned:

I Learned These Four Things

1. In Family Court, lawyers are essential. They are not inexpensive. But beg, borrowing, and begging some more to find the retainer is a big way to keep the playing field level. The Pro Bono lawyers are available for some supports, but their lanes are narrow. Find a good lawyer whatever you have to do. I had great pro bono lawyers. But I needed more support and advocacy. I am grateful for people who helped make that possible. You can find good lawyers with a retainer of $3500. Also, don’t lecture people about pro bono services unless you are very familiar with them. Telling someone “there’s free services for you” with no actual data sucks.