Q&A with Katherine: Many Of Us Will Always Choose to “Aid and Abet” For Trans Kids

What message do you have for trans and queer youth?  We love you. We will fight for you, always. Your only job is to be a kid, to learn who you are, to experiment, to fuck up, to keep going. Our job as the adults who love you is to protect you. They want to […]

How Responding to a Crowdfund Shows You Understand the Assignment

My friend Melissa set up a crowdfund for my legal and living expenses in September 2023. It is still active and still needed. I’ve posted 48 updates, about 2x month, to keep donors and supporters informed on the legal issues, the living issues, and other items. This is the 48th update pasted below. I work […]

20 Years Ago Today This House Became My Home

Settle down, it’ll all be clearThe trouble it might drag you downIf you get lost, you can always be found 20 years ago this very day, we loaded up the UHaul at my home in West Mifflin, drove to Manchester where we unloaded for what I thought would be forever. Friends and family had helped […]

Violent Assault Leaves Trans Woman Seriously Injured in Washington DC

On June 29, Cayla Calhoun a 48-year-old white trans woman, was violently assaulted after leaving her DC workplace in the early hours. Calhoun, a transplate from Alabama, described leaving work on her hoverboard only to find herself contending with three men on scooters physically and verbally assaulting her. Her last memory was being shoved off […]

Q&A with Kailey Andrew: Gender Affirming Healthcare is Legal in Pennsylvania

What message do you have for trans and queer youth? You are not alone. Don’t let them erase you. This isn’t the first time or the last time that trans people will have to fight to exist – don’t give up the fight. Read up on your history and take pride in it. Make art. Write […]

Open Letter to UPMC From Staff Calling for Reinstatement of Gender-Affirming Healthcare for Youth and Adults Under 19

I have been asked to publish this letter that I think speaks for itself. I will be publishing Q&A’s with some of the employees leading this effort to protect trans youth. I asked them the same questions. The differences in their answers may offer some insight into the tactics UPMC is using to sacrifice trans […]

Trans intersex US citizen Ezra Hulett, 24, brutally detained, then dies in a Dominican Republic immigration camp

In June 23, 2025, a 24-year-old American citizen was found dead in custody of an immigration detention center in the Dominican Republic. Ezra Hulett identified as an intersex transgender person. He died at the Haina Detention Center in the Dominican Republic. Ezra also used the name Ezri Hajiune. To the best of my knowledge, Hajiune […]

The silence of a falling star lights up a purple sky. I wonder where you are.

The lonely work of memorializing trans neighbors. One of the worst moments as a blogger is when I publish a post memorializing a trans neighbor, take a breath and realize I have to write another one. That always hurts. Each time this happens, I take a breath and let it out, feeling the fury and […]

Status of missing Canton drag artist JJ Godbey now a homicide investigation with suspect in custody

Last week, we reported on the disappearance of a 26 year old trans drag artist from Canton, Ohio. Sadly, police have now determined this is a homicide investigation. Canton police announced late Thursday that the disappearance of JJ Godbey is now a homicide investigation. They’ve charged Daniel Mattay, Ryan’s former boyfriend, with four felonies: murder, […]

Did Hill’s Department Store Blow Up Your Sky Every Fourth of July? Don’t Read This Post.

Fourth of July

In 2014, I wrote a blog post about the Fourth of July, focusing on things we saw in movies but didn’t experience in real life. The thing most people take away from that post is my reference to the annual firework displays hosted by Hill’s Department Stores around the region. Something about that simple experience […]