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 […]

PJ Identifies as a Cis White Gay Man With a Twist of Genderqueer

Pittsburgh gay

The experiences of ex-pats who left Western Pennsylvania for some reason sheds valuable light on these questions around the regional LGBTQ experience. PJ is a friend who now lives in Chicago, but was here long enough to have some powerful formative experiences. Name: PJ Age:  46 County of Residence: Now in Chicago, but grew up in Westmoreland, […]

Ashe Believes To Be Queer Is To Be Yourself #AMPLIFY

Amplify LGBTQ Allegheny County

Name: Ashe Age:  29 County of Residence: Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: She/her/hers How do you describe your identity? I usually identify as bisexual, but I’ll go with queer from time to time. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? It was honestly surprising. I came out at the beginning of my senior […]

DJ Scott Is a Gay Black Man Full of Positive Vibes #AMPLIFY

Gay Black Pittsburgh

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 […]

Kitty Is Out and Open as a Bisexual Trans Woman in Erie County #AMPLIFY

Erie Transgender Bisexual

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 […]

Victory in the Campaign to Establish a Memorial for Andre Gray

Andre Gray Pittsburgh

With 24 hours to spare, the fundraising leg of the #RememberAndre campaign successfully surged past the $5,000 mark. This project has been established to create a permanent memorial to the life of Andre Gray, a young bisexual man of color who was murdered at the young age of 34 in his Lawrenceville apartment. At the […]

Shawna on Her Unique Experience as a Lesbian in Indiana County #AMPLIFY

LGBT Indiana County

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 […]

Why I’m A Sponsor of the Transpride Pgh Conference

My blog is an official sponsor of the 2015 TransPride Pittsburgh National Conference September 18-20. I just now sent in my check and completed the paperwork. This is part of my intentional acts to show that trans lives matter to me. I chose TransPride Pgh because it functions as sort of an umbrella group for the […]

Miss Erie Pride 2015: Embrace Who We Are Meant To Be #AMPLIFY

Erie Gay

  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 […]

RIP Keyshia Blige, Another TWOC Whose Death Went Undiscovered

Keyshia Blige

We are on the road to participate in Erie Pridefest this weekend when I read this news on Facebook via The Guardian – another trans woman of color had been killed earlier this year, but the information didn’t hit the news until now. The reason? Misgendering by the police and the media. Her name was Keyshia […]