Destiny, 24, is Deaf, Autistic, Androgyne, and Bisexual #AMPLIFY

Deaf Autistic Androgyne Pittsburgh Bisexual

  Name: Destiny Age:  24 County of Residence: Allegheny, previously Luzerne County Pronouns: She/He/They+ How do you describe your identity? DeafAutistic, androgyne, bisexual, 2D animator/illustrator. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I came out as bisexual when I was around maybe 12 years old, I remember asking my mother what […]

Castiel, 36, is Bisexual and Gender Fluid in Westmoreland County #AMPLIFY

Bisexual, gender fluid, Westmoreland County

Name: Castiel Hess Age: 36 County of Residence: Westmoreland Pronouns: He, him, his How do you describe your identity? Bi-sexual, gender fluid Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face?  I let a few close people know slowly out of fear of judgment. It actually took me a really long time […]

Rachel Lange, 42, took a few steps out of their gender closet #AMPLIFYupdates

Queer genderqueer Pittsburgh

At the request of our contributors, we are creating space for people to submit updates to the #AMPLIFY LGBTQ project. We know that for some folks, life has changed so we are offering an opportunity to post an update to earlier responses. We will NOT be modifying that content, but we will create a link […]

Mairin, 31, is an out and proud lesbian in Philadelphia with Pittsburgh roots #AMPLIFY

Pittsburgh Philadelphia lesbian

Working around dress codes has always been difficult for me. I dress in men’s clothing and it isn’t always acceptable in professional settings (it is also not always easy to find clothes to begin with!). Every time I start a new job or show up to a dressy function, I worry what people are going […]

Trans Woman Jayme Lyn, 59, Wants Us To Remember the ‘Mature’ Trans Community #AMPLIFY

Trans Woman Allegheny County

  Name: Jayme Lynn Age: 59 County of Residence: Allegheny County, previously Dauphin county and Cumberland county Pronouns: She,her,Ms How do you describe your identity? Transgender woman Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? Hiding for 55 yrs,I found strength in the Diana Sawyer, Caitlin Jenner interview,wife knew about me […]

Emilee, 21, Describes Life as a Chinese-American Lesbian in Rural Fayette County #AMPLIFY

Chinese-American Lesbian

Being the minority for both race and sexuality can be a nightmare here. I have not experienced any [microaggressions] for my sexuality, but it’s a constant battle because of my race. Strangers will constantly make rude comments to me about being Chinese. I’ve had customers at work make rude and or ignorant comments about it. The worst part is when people try to ask me where I’m from. Honestly I don’t know because I was adopted as a baby. It hits a certain nerve when people bring up anything to do with my ethnicity.

82 Trans Stories from Western Pennsylvania Honor Trans Awareness Week

Transgender Awareness Week

The week before Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, we have Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility of transgender people and address issues the community faces. I’ve curated 82 stories from our #AMPLIFY project to illustrate the multi-faceted experiences of transgender neighbors in Western Pennsylvania. Our project asks people to describe their […]

Amanda, 25, identifies in part as genderfluid, ecosexual, and focused on being out to themself #AMPLIFY

Allegheny County LGBTQ

Name: Amanda Age: 25 County of Residence: Allegheny County, also has lived in Hawaii Pronouns: she/they How do you describe your identity? genderfluid/agender, gay/queer, western european roots, over seven generations in North America, ecosexual, priestess, prophet That being said some challenges were not having an accepting family, or an accepting school, or an accepting church; not having anyone safe […]

Vincent, 54, is a Nonbinary Transmasculine & Queer Asian Pacific Islander in Pittsburgh #AMPLIFY

As an elderly Queer person, I chronically worry about and struggle with poverty and homelessness. And I’m aware that there are a lot of local Queer and Trans folks who are homeless or struggling with food insecurity. Name: Vincent Age: 54 County of Residence: Allegheny County, previously San Francisco Pronouns: He/Him & They/Them How do you describe your […]

Anonymouse, 62, is an Atypical Late Blooming Bisexual in Somerset County #AMPLIFY

Somerset County Bisexual

Content Note: sexual abuse, child abuse, mental illness, religious abuse. We’ve posted several hotline numbers at the end of this post for  your reference. Name: Anonymouse County of Residence: Somerset County. Age: 62 years old Pronouns: He, him, they, theirs, yinz How do you describe your identity?  I’m an atypical late blooming bisexual – I came to understand […]