Ben, 30, Wants All Gay White Men to Learn To Take a Step Back #AMPLIFY

  Name: Ben Age: 30 County of Residence: Allegheny, formerly Cambria (Johnstown) Pronouns: he/him How do you describe your identity? gay man Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? Well in high school I found myself attracted to other guys in school over any girls, but I didn’t think much of […]

Rachel, 24, Asks Where Are Our Out, Queer Women Role Models in Pittsburgh? #AMPLIFY

Pittsburgh Queer Woman

Name:  Rachel Age: 24 County of Residence:  Allegheny Pronouns: she/her How do you describe your identity? Gender identity: cis female, sexual orientation: queer, race: white. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face?  I sort of subconsciously knew I was queer from a young age. I remember being enamored with a […]

Laura, 42, is a Bisexual Mom in Pittsburgh #AMPLIFY

Bisexual Woman in Pittsburgh

What motivated you to take part in this project? I didn’t want to give into the fear. Now more than ever, we need to be seen and heard. I remembered the movie ‘Milk’ (loved that movie!) and Sean Penn (as Harvey Milk) saying ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are!’ but now I can’t seem to verify that anywhere. But, the quote I can verify as Harvey Milk’s, that is just as relevant is..’Hope will never be silent’. Here’s to never losing hope.

Black Trans Woman Candace Towns, 30, is 23rd Victim of Anti-Trans Violence in 2017

30-year-old Candace Towns of Macon, Georgia is the 23rd transgender person lost to anti-trans violence in 2017. From Monica Roberts at Transgriot: Towns was staying at the Rodeway Inn on Eisenhower Parkway, was last seen alive Saturday, and was reported missing on Sunday.  At 4 PM EDT Tuesday an anonymous 911 call was received  reporting […]

Brad, 33, is a Gay, Black Man Who Does Charity Work as a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence #AMPLIFY

gay black man pittsburgh

We talked for maybe 20 seconds, and he invited me to the first group meeting of the semester. It was all quick and mundane, but my mind lingered on him afterwards as I thought, “This is a man, and he is gay. He is a gay man.” It wasn’t even about sex, just the idea that a man could be gay and live his life without shame.

Butler Mayoral Election is Referendum Vote on Municipal NonDiscrimination Ordinance Says Local Trans Activist

“[The Nov 7 General Election] will be seen as a referendum vote [on nondiscrimination ordinances].  So, if it fails, no elected official will bring this back up anytime soon, in Butler or the surrounding area. If we get this passed, then it will show the neighboring municipality that it is not political suicide to bring this up and vote on it.”

Stephanie Montez is 22nd Transgender Person Murdered in 2017

A week after her body was discovered, friends of Stephanie Montez spoke out to make sure her authentic identity was acknowledged. The friends of Corpus Christi transgender woman Stephanie Montez were left aghast as their search for her revealed that the Sheriff had identified her as a “man in a dress” in an inexcusably transphobic […]

Meg, 30, is a Genderqueer Femme in Washington County #AmplifyUpdates

At the request of our contributors, we are creating space for people to submit updates. We know that for some folks, life has changed so we are offering an opportunity to post an update to earlier responses. We will NOT be modifying that content, but we will create a link to this new post. This will […]

Tracey, 58, is a Queer Mother Parenting Nonbinary Children #AMPLIFY

queer washington county

What motivated you to take part in this project? 

Living my truth, parenting non-binary children, wanting to do the best for my family and my clients.

Bebe Beretta, 27, is Nonbinary, Genderfluid, and Wants More LGBTQ Folks to Connect #AMPLIFY

Bebe Beretta

Name: Bebe Beretta Age: 27 (28 in November!) County of Residence: Allegheny County, formerly Butler and Mercer counties Pronouns: She/He/They (anything will do, I’m a pronoun hog!) How do you describe your identity? Non-binary, gender-fluid. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I never really came out. The universe just kind of […]