Tristan, 28, is Gay, Mexican-American, a Comedian and Writer and Drag Queen #AMPLIFY

gay pittsburgh drag queer

Name: Tristan Age: 28 County of Residence: Allegheny Pronouns: He/Him How do you describe your identity? Gay, Mexican-American Comedian and Writer, and drag queen Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I came out when I was 15 to my parents. I don’t know why I […]

Kyle Discusses Privilege & Perception of Gay, White, Cisgender Men #AMPLIFY

gay bisexual cis man Allegheny County

How would you describe yourself NOW in terms of “being out”?

I am 100% viewed by most as being out as a gay man, which is funny since I have spent most of my adulthood as bi- or pan-sexual (I adopted the pan-sexual identity after first hearing about it). But, I am a cis-gender man who is married to a cis-gender man. Since most people just assume that means I am gay, that is what I am generally seen as. So, I suppose I am “out,” just not everyone knows the full story.

Norman, 67, is a Gay Black Male of African Descent #AMPLIFY

Gay Black Pittsburgh

Name:  Norman Age:  67 County of Residence: Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: he/his/him How do you describe your identity? gay (same gender loving) Black male of African Descent Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? My coming out experience happened in the late 60’s with my sisters when I was in my […]

Ben, 29, is Proud to be a Queer Pittsburgher #AMPLIFY

Gay Pittsburgh

Name: Ben Stoviak Age: 29 County of Residence: Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: He/They How do you describe your identity? Queer, gay, male-bodied; I like to think of myself as a lover above these things, though, and like to remind people that I’m many more things than this—I’m a teacher, professional, creative, son, brother, adventurer, and friend. Please describe your coming out […]

As A Gay Man, Ryan Wants More Scrutiny of Bath Houses and Non-Profits #AMPLIFY

Gay Allegheny County

Name: Ryan Age: 42 County of Residence: Allegheny.  I grew up in NE Ohio until the age of about 23. Preferred Pronouns: He, she, it, they, etc? How do you describe your identity? I’m an adult, white, gay, male, humanist, Democrat. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? It happened in stages, false […]

Erik Is a Cis White Working-Class Queer from Clearfield County

Allegheny Clearfield Gay

  Name: Erik Age: 45 County of Residence: Allegheny. I grew up in Clearfield County, and attended college in Crawford County. Preferred Pronouns: he/him How do you describe your identity? This is evolving – in the sense that years ago, I wouldn’t have attached “cis,” not knowing what that meant – but I’m comfortable identifying as a cis white working-class […]

Alex is a Black Trans Man Who Will Not Apologize for His Existence #AMPLIFY

Gay Pittsburgh

Alex Smithson Alex is the closing keynote speaker for the Transpride Pittsburgh Conference 2015 this weekend. He’ll be addressing the conference Sunday afternoon from 4-5 PM in Lawrenceville. It is very powerful that this conference is opened by a trans woman of color (Ciora Thomas) and closed by by a trans man of color, both […]

Tony Believes Everyone in the LGBTQ Community Matters. Everyone. #AMPLIFY

Western Pennsylvania LGBT

Read the entire AMPLIFY LGBTQ Q&A archive. AMPLIFY LGBTQ is a new occasional series of blog posts designed to give a “signal boost” to the voices of our LGBTQ neighbors throughout Western Pennsylvania. We are using a Q&A format and will minimize editing their responses. The questions, however, may change as we ask each participant to […]

John is a Geeky, White, Cisgender, Queer, Pagan, Proletariat Hippie #AMPLIFY

Western Pennsylvania

Read the entire AMPLIFY LGBTQ Q&A archive. AMPLIFY LGBTQ is a new occasional series of blog posts designed to give a “signal boost” to the voices of our LGBTQ neighbors throughout Western Pennsylvania. We are using a Q&A format and will mostly avoid editing their responses. The questions, however, may change as we ask each […]

Follow Up on the Vigil for Omar Islam

Omar Islam, murder

I was unable to attend the vigil last night because I’m sick and I regret that quite a bit. So I’ve pieced together reports on the vigil. My understanding is that this is not a hate crime, there was no motive connected to Omar as an individual or who he was – he was just […]