RevDrRay, 49, Believes LGBTQ Folks Deserve Strong & Powerful ‘Spiritual’ Life #AMPLIFY

Pittsburgh Gay Black Man

I just want to say that it is possible to have a strong and powerful “spiritual” life; we do not deserve the often used bible or faith based abuses dished out and far too often accepted by the masses. Name: RevDrRay Age: 49 County of Residence: formerly Allegheny County, now Washington DC metro area Preferred Pronouns: masculine How do […]

Sara, 28, Single Mom, Agnostic Jew, and Queer in Ohio #AMPLIFY

Pittsburgh lesbian mom

  Name: Sara Age: 28 County of Residence: formerly Allegheny County, now Columbus, Ohio Preferred Pronouns: She/her How do you describe your identity? I’m an agnostic Jew. I’m white. I’m queer and a big old dyke. I’m a gold star lesbian. I’m a single mama to two little boys. Just started dating a wonderful woman and couldn’t be happier with […]

Shain Describes Being a Gay Kid in the Nancy Reagan Fear Generation #AMPLIFY UPDATED

Gay Mercer County

“He was just thin, lived in NYC, and was gay so in the early 90’s, and being a kid of the Nancy Reagan fear generation, I assumed he had full blow AIDS and that someday I would, too.” Name:  Shain Kish Age: 32 County of Residence:  Mercer County, also lived in Allegheny. Now lives in New […]

The Return of #AMPLIFY

  We’ve been on a brief hiatus, but next week publication of the #AMPLIFY posts resumes. We continue to need your contributions – just takes about 30 minutes to complete the Q&A.  Soon we’ll be able to start audio recording interviews. All because … Funding for the #Amplify LGBTQ Voices project was provided by The […]

Huge News for #AMPLIFY – A Major Grant to Bring More LGBTQ Voices To The Table

AMPLIFY

Big, big news for our little project. We have received a $15,000 grant from The Pittsburgh Foundation to support our work throughout 2016. The funds will be used to revamp this website to make the #AMPLIFY content easier to find, read and navigate. We will also be out in full force throughout the region to […]

Pittsburgh Opera Brings Gertrude Stein’s Love Story to Pittsburgh: Interview With Ricky Ian Gordon

  This week, the Pittsburgh Opera hosts the Pennsylvania debut of ’27’ – an opera about the love story of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, composed by Ricky Ian Gordon. Ricky has Pittsburgh ties and graciously agreed to answer a few questions for us. 1. Tell me about your first impression of Pittsburgh. I […]

Taking an #AMPLIFY Hiatus

AMPLIFY

It has been quite a few months – we’ve been invited to contribute to the Post-Gazette Forum section, working on the first issue of the AMPLIFY zine and exploring a stage play performance for Pride month. All exciting stuff, but also time consuming – that, plus fundraising for AMPLIFY has literally consumed most of my […]

Bobby, 50, Queer Trans Guy, White Anti-Racism Activist #AMPLIFY

Transgender Pittsburgh

Name: Bobby Age: 50 County of Residence: Allegheny County. Grew up in Venango County. College in Washington County. Lived in Beaver County (Allequippa) Lived in Westmoreland County (Latrobe) Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his How do you describe your identity? Queer Transguy  longterm Wilkinsburg resident. White anti-racism activist Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? Early Spring 1983, my […]

Diane, 56, Is Asexual With Lesbian Leanings and a Writer #AMPLIFY

Asexual Flag

Name: Diane Age: 56 County of Residence:  Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: she How do you describe your identity? I am asexual with lesbian leanings. I am white, never married and live with my sister. I also write GLBT romance novels. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? Did not realize I had […]

Pixie, 26, is Androgynous, Non-binary, Genderqueer and Lesbian, But Identifies as Pixie #AMPLIFY

Fayette County lesbian

Name: Pixie Colbert Age: 26 County of Residence:  Allegheny, grew up in Fayette County Preferred Pronouns: She/Her/They/Them How do you describe your identity? I am a strong-willed, sweet hearted, intelligent, extroverted introvert, androgynous, non-binary, genderqueer, lesbian. I perform drag as Mr. Ace Phoenix. I am not a fan of labels. Period. I feel I can identify as a lot […]