CowGal Val and Ravenhurst are two blogs by LGBT people who used to live in Alaska.

CowGal Val is written by Valerie and Deborah, a lesbian couple from Anchorage who are now living in Portland, Oregon.

In early June, Valerie was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. Val and Deborah created the blog to keep “friends and family all the heck over the place in the loop about Val, Deborah, lung cancer, and our community’s capacity for amazing generosity of spirit.” 

In addition to treatment updates, they post about their dog, their friends, learning from cancer, and enjoying daily life. When Val began chemotherapy, they posted video of shaving her head and wrote about the experience of being bald. 

If you know Valerie and Deborah, or even if you don’t know them personally, drop by CowGal Val and leave a note of encouragement. A message from someone who cares can brighten a dark chemo day.

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Ravenhurst is written by Richard, a 56 year old gay widower who lived in Fairbanks for 19 years and now lives on a five acre ranch near Paradise, California. He writes about gay news, politics, and his life in rural California, including his participation as a friend and witness in the first gay and lesbian marriages in the county. 

Like CowGal Val, Ravenhurst was created in response to a life-changing event. Five months ago, Richard’s life partner and soulmate Steve passed away. Richard began blogging through the grief and just kept going.

Richard was almost evacuated last week because of a fire burning out of control near Paradise. Luckily, Ravenhurst – his homestead and his blog – was spared, and Richard continues to post on life, love, and interesting gay news. Go say Hello from Alaska.

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Do you know other LGBT (ex-)Alaskan bloggers? Send in their links and they will be featured in another post. While you’re here, check out the category Where Are They Now? for news about LGBT people who once lived in Alaska but now live somewhere else.