India Clarke is Tenth Trans Woman of Color Murdered #SayHerName

India Clarke

Horrifying news out of Tampa – 25 years old India Clarke was found murdered near her parents’ home early this morning. From Transgriot: 25 year old India Clarke’s body was found after the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department received a phone call at 9 AM EDT this morning from an employee at the University Area Community […]

AMPLIFY! CJ Describes Living Stealth as a Trans Man

CJ Pennsylvania

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 mostly avoid editing their responses. The questions, however, may change as we ask each participant to tell us what we’ve missed […]

Mad Mex ‘Menu Humor’ Targets Trans Community, Then Apologizes

I noticed this on Facebook today on the page of a friend in the LGBTQ community. It is from the menu of a Mad Mex restaurant in Shadyside: Apparently, word got out today. Between this AM and 5 PM, Mad Mex updated their website about this matter. They apologized with more than a hint of […]

Mercedes Williamson 17 Year Old Trans Woman Murdered in Alabama

Mercedes Williamson

17. 17 is still a girl, a young woman. This 17 year old was an aspiring cosmetologist with people who cared about her. Yet at 17, Mercedes Williamson joins the ranks of trans women who have been murdered in the United States. According to The Advocate, Mercedes was estranged from her family and living with […]

All in a day’s work!

Last week, I wrote about a Post-Gazette reporter who wanted to talk to me about Caitlyn Jenner. On Friday, she called me to say there was a misunderstanding, and the Post-Gazette does not have a “real names” policy regarding transgender people. They could have quoted me using my pen name, she said, and she apologized for […]

Graham crackers

It seems like the Post-Gazette’s Jennifer Graham, winner of this week’s “Best Turd in a Punchbowl” award, is new to Pittsburgh. Her magnum derpus about Caitlyn Jenner is only her second column for One of America’s Best Potato-Peelings Catchers, according to Davyoe of “2 Political Junkies.” I did look at Jennifer “Quietest of Voices” Graham’s […]

Meanwhile, at Pittsburgh’s ‘liberal’ paper

On Tuesday, I was emailed by a reporter at the Post-Gazette who wanted to ask my take on Caitlyn Jenner’s transition. I replied, that’s fine, I’m happy to help, but you have to understand that “Trish” is a pen name, not my legal name. Oh, the reporter responded, my editor says we’ll need to use […]

UPDATED: London Chanel, 21, Eighth Trans Woman of Color Murdered in 2015

London Chanel Transgender

Very sad news from close to home in Philadelphia – 21-year-old London Chanel was murdered early Monday morning and then promptly misgendered in the reporting. Fortunately, her friends weighed in quickly and the media updated their reporting. How sad that’s part of the ritual of mourning our trans sisters – fact checking the media. A […]

My modest proposal to prevent “bathroom panic”

A number of states—mostly of the far-right-wing variety—have now introduced legislation that would forbid transgender people from using a public restroom if it doesn’t correspond to the gender on their birth certificate. (Pennsylvania hasn’t tried this yet, but I’d be surprised if some legislator doesn’t have a draft bill sitting on his or her desk. […]

Ty Underwood Shot in Texas, 2nd Trans Woman of Color Murdered in 2015

Ty Underwood

Even more tragic news to share – this time 24 year-old Ty Underwood, a trans woman of color, was found shot to death Monday morning in Tyler, Texas. A woman called 911 saying a car had hit a telephone pole and that her children heard gunshots. Underwood’s roommate believes Underwood was targeted because she is […]