Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier is 22nd Transgender Homicide Victim in 2018

Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier was a 31 year-old Black trans woman living in Chicago. On Wednesday, October 3, she became the 22nd transgender person identified as a homicide victim in the US during 2018. According to local reports, Ciara was stabbed to death by an unknown man. A transgender woman who was found dead with […]

Midterms 2018 Political Q&A Not Generating Much Interest or GOTV Information

In followup to our primary Q&As earlier this year, I had three plans in mind to do my bit to turn out informed voters. First, I tried to install voter registration widgets and links. Unfortunately, my latest (now former) webguy wasn’t timely in helping me realize that we needed to do more behind the scenes […]

Pittsburgh Marathon Defends Chick-fil-A Partnership

Chick-fil-A Pittsburgh Marathon

Yesterday, I blogged about the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon bringing on Chick-fil-A as the title sponsor of their youth programming, including the Chick-fil-A Kids Marathon. People began contacting the Marathon offices known as the non-profit, P3R. Early responses indicated that the staff were in a meeting to discuss the blowback. A few hours later, […]

Why Did @PghMarathon Add Chick-fil-A As a Corporate Sponsor?

Chick-fil-A Pittsburgh Marathon

UPDATE: Please sign the petition against this turn of events. The Pittsburgh Marathon has teamed up with Chick-fil-A, the new title partner of the Chick-fil-A Pittsburgh Kids Marathon and the presenting partner of the award-winning Kids of STEEL program. Last night we celebrated our expanded partnership w/ @ChickfilA Pittsburgh! The cow came dressed in running gear […]

AMPLIFYing LGBTQ History Month: Q&A with Anne Lynch

Pittsburgh Ally

To date, the AMPLIFY project has published over 270 Q&A’s from the Western Pennsylvania region. These stories capture important moments in LGBTQ History, from the current day and extending as far back as the Kennedy Administration in terms of lived experiences of LGBTQ people. I’ve asked some folks to weigh in on the impact of […]

Isolation: Is Pittsburgh’s Feminist Community Too Insular?

Feminist Isolation

Even amidst the horrible camaraderie of survivors speaking up and out about sexual assault, I’m reminded of how deeply isolated I feel, especially among local women’s groups and feminists. I’m not lonely in the sense that I do have wonderful friends from all stages of my life. But I’m lonely in the sense that I […]

72 Bisexual Folx from Western PA Share Their Stories Through The #AMPLIFY Project

Bisexual Pittsburgh

Today is Bisexual Visibility Day, designated to raise awareness and honor the members of our community who identify as bisexual. Through the #AMPLIFY project, we have been able to publish Q&A’s with 70 individuals who identify as bisexual. Please note that this list may not be comprehensive based on how people respond to questions like […]

#WhyIDidntReport – My Stories and Why I Believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford

#WhyIDidntReport Pittsburgh

I’ve blogged before about being a survivor of sexual violence, both in my childhood and my adult life. Some details I’ve shared, others I keep private because there are other survivors who share my specific stories and I don’t want to hurt them. But I can tell you #WhyIDidntReport is a trending hashtag that is […]

Nikki Janelle Enriquez is 21st Trans Person Murdered in 2018, Killed by US Customers Border Agent

Earlier this week, we learned that a US Customs and Border Protection agent had been arrested under suspicion of murdering at least four women and attempting to kidnap a fifth. One of his victims was a 28 year-old Latina trans woman, Nikki Janelle Enriquez. She was a native of Laredo, Texas. From Monica Roberts at Transgriot: […]

Ross Township Extends Nondiscrimination Protections to LGBTQ Residents

Ross Township Nondiscrimination

Now here’s a much-needed shot in the arm for LGBTQ folks in Western Pennsylvania – Ross Township has extended nondiscrimination protections in employment, housing, and public accommodations to include sexual orientation and gender identity. The vote was 5-2 to create an Equal Opportunity Board and extended the protections.  As you might anticipate, the vote was […]