Celebrate National Coming Out Day By Reading These 318 Stories

National Coming Out Day

On this National Coming Out Day, it is important to remember that coming out is not a one and done experience – we “come out” every time we meet someone new who has been taught to assume everyone is heterosexual and cisgender. And sometimes we don’t come out because it is not safe. We might […]

80+ First Person Stories from Bi+ Western Pennsylvania Neighbors in Honor of #BiVisibilityDay 2021

Bisexual Pittsburgh

Today is Bi Visibility Day – there are hundreds of celebrations and events planned across the globe. Pennsylvania is the first state to have a Governor issue a proclamation – thank you, Governor Tom Wolf (proclamation at the end of this post.) One of my favorite blog projects has been the creation of the #AMPLIFY […]

35 Western Pennsylvania Voices on Pansexual Visibility Day

May 24 is Pansexual Visibility Day. According to HRC Pan people’s sexuality can often be erased when they are assumed to be either gay or straight, or when their pan identity isn’t taken seriously, so it’s essential to make sure that we uplift the voices of pan people. Being pan can mean different things to […]

318 Coming Out Stories from Western Pennsylvania

National Coming Out Day Pittsburgh

Happy National Coming Out Day! Today is the day we celebrate coming out – being more open about our LGBTQIA+ identities AND encouraging folx still “in the closet” to take their own steps. Sharing our own unique stories is an essential tool to offer support. In honor of that reality, I am offering this list […]

82 Bi+ Stories From Western Pennsylvania to Honor Bisexual Visibility Day

Bisexual Pittsburgh

Since 1999 we have honored and acknowledged the bi+ community. Bisexual+ Awareness Week seeks to accelerate acceptance of the bi+ (pansexual, fluid, no label, queer, etc.) community. #BiWeek draws attention to the experiences, while also celebrating the resiliency of, the bisexual+ community. Throughout #BiWeek, allies and bi+ people learn about the history, culture, community, and […]

We #AMPLIFY 16 Non-Binary Voices from Western Pennsylvania on International Nonbinary People’s Day

Non-Binary Stories

The AMPLIFY project is a series of Q&A’s with LGBTQ+ folks who have ties to Western Pennsylvania. Here are 16 contributors who identify as non-binary (or some variant of that spelling) – take a dive into their lived experiences. Meg, 28, is Nonbinary, Genderqueer, Polyamorous, and Pansexual #AMPLIFY Bebe Beretta, 27, is Nonbinary, Genderfluid, and […]

84 Trans Stories from Western Pennsylvania on the Trans Day of Visibility

Transgender Awareness Week

March 31 is the International Transgender Day of Visibility, devoted to raising the visibility of transgender and gender nonconforming (GNC) neighbors both in terms of their resiliency and successes as well as the realities of transphobic bias and violence. I’ve curated 84 stories from our #AMPLIFY project to illustrate the multi-faceted experiences of transgender neighbors […]

Patrouious Achatz, 25, Compares LGBTQ+ Resources in Allegheny, Westmoreland, and McKean counties #AMPLIFYupdate

A Heteroromantic Demisexual Man with Trans Experience

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 […]

B, 28, Feels Alone As a Bisexual Person in Beaver County #AMPLIFY

  I can’t be the only one not out. I know there are more of me. Name: B Age: 28 County of Residence: Beaver County Pronouns: She preferred, he or they is also fine though. How do you describe your identity? Queer. Or just as a bisexual person. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? […]

316 Reasons to Add Your LGBTQ Story to the #AMPLIFY Archive

Since 2015, we have been collecting stories from LGBTQ folks with ties to Western Pennsylvania. Some live here now, others grew up in this region. Others still attended college or had a job that brought them here or spent summers with their grandparents in an outlying community. Here includes 26 counties in Western Pennsylvania, from […]