Pittsburgh Holiday Gift Card Project for LGBTQ Kids Faces Multiple Attempts to Interfere Linked to Anti-Trans Extremists

PITTSBURGH – A local holiday gift card project for teens has faced two attempts to disrupt their efforts. Pittsburgh LGBTQ Charities (PLC) organized a gift card drive to support regional LGBTQ teens, ages 12-21, with a simple gift card worth $25. Two separate attacks on their registration process have slowed down their progress.  “This project […]

Latina Trans Woman Caelee Love-Light Killed in Phoenix

Caelee Love-Light

Last week, 27-year-old Caelee Love-Light was found dead at the scene of a car incident in Phoenix, Arizona. The Latina transwoman succumbed to gunshot injuries she sustained while involved in some sort of altercation with the male occupant of the car. He was stabbed several times and later died of his injuries at a nearby […]

Black Trans Man Mar’Quis ‘MJ’ Jackson, 33, Killed in Philadelphia

Mar’Quis Jackson, known as MJ, turned 33 years old on December 12, 2022. He didn’t come home that night. Two days later, the Black trans man was found dead in the backyard of a residence in Nicetown, a Philadelphia neighborhood. The Philadelphia Police Department is investigating the death of a man found with trauma to […]

Protecting Trans Kids During the Holidays

LGBTQ Gift Cards

Some folks are sending in photographs of their #ProtectTransKids yard signs with their holiday decorations. One person, bottom row, second from the right, organized their decor around the sign itself. Please feel free to send your own images to PLC folx@pghlgbtq.org We have ordered 1150 yard signs to date, since late June. There are still […]

Trans Woman Day Rodas, 27, Found Dead in Malibu

Day Rodas

Day Rodas was 27-years-old when she began to live fulltime as her authentic female self. She was also 27 when her body was discovered at the side of the road in Malibu, California. A body was found Thursday morning on a roadside in the Santa Monica Mountains north of Malibu, prompting the closure of a […]

Kelly Loving, 40, and Daniel Aston, 28, Among Victims at Club Q

I took my time writing this particular post about the two transgender neighbors killed in the Club Q mass shooting in Colorado Springs. There’s as of yet no evidence suggesting the murderer was particularly motivated by gender identity, but this incident does irrevocably fuse our experiences of oppression, violence, and hate. We must understand that […]

Black Trans Woman Diamond Jackson-McDonald, 27, Murdered in Philadelphia on Thanksgiving

Diamond Jackson-McDonald

Pennsylvania was home to the most recent victim of anti-transgender violence terrorizing our nation. Her name was Diamond Jackson-McDonald. She was 27-years-old when she was murdered on Thanksgiving. Diamond was a Black trans woman. Shahere “Diamond” Jackson-McDonald was found shot to death inside her mother’s apartment on the 400 block of Manheim Street in the […]

On World AIDS Day, The Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ Commission Remembers and Honors Anthony Silvestre — Researcher and Activist Who Dedicated His Life’s Work to Ending AIDS

Since 1988 and every year thereafter on December 1, World AIDS Day has been an international  day for global health in the fight against AIDS. On this day, our communities remember those who  we lost to HIV/AIDS, cherish those who are living with HIV, and recognize the impact this disease   has had on families and […]

‘I Will Survive’ – The Official #ProtectTransKids Video

Protect Trans Kids

Each time I see a yard sign, I feel a little thrill. When I saw multiples, it increases. That’s not just satisfaction, it is validation that all of these spaces are proclaiming that they stand with transgender kids. And when I drive down a block or two and see many signs, it is a wonderful […]

Pittsburgh SciTech Math Class Incorporates #ProtectTransKids Into Lessons

Received this today from a Pittsburgh SciTech 10th grade math class I am really struggling right now so this was very well timed indeed. Making the list with ice cream, and mole sauce is high praise indeed. Thank you, teacher, for educating me today in a bit of “thankful math” I pulled up one of the […]