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 […]

Two Year Anniversary of My Hysterectomy

lesbian hysterectomy

It’s been two years since I had a hysterectomy and I still occasionally find a tampon or pad stuffed away in an old purse or the pocket of a rarely worn coat. I have donated most of my unused items, but the occasional surfacing of one that I overlooked always makes me pause. I spent […]

The Criminal Complaint Against Gary Van Horn Illustrates (Again) Divides in Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ Community

The local LGBTQ community is abuzz with the revelation that Delta Foundation President Gary Van Horn has started a Pittsburgh chapter of the Rosco P Coltrane fan club and “unofficially” brought Allegheny County Sheriff Mullen, a few notaries, and his friend “Timmy” along with him. (see images below to interpret that allusion.) Gary has been […]

Five Ways for White Folx to Change the Narrative of Thanksgiving

Giving Thanks Indigenous

It is an old township, and early in the history of this county it embraced an extended area. It derived its name from the fact that when the early settlers came in from Westmoreland County and elsewhere as early as 1794, they discovered, much to their surprise, a large square of cleared land. From its […]

My Hometown: Living in Two Pittsburghs #NaBloPoMo2019 #NaBloPoMoPgh

Two Pittsburghs

The prompt – There’s a phrase often used describing us as living in “two Pittsburgh.” Pittsburgh has multiple legacies, from being named ‘Most Livable’ to the recent report from the Pittsburgh Gender Equity Commission describing the magnitude of racial inequality in our city. How do you relate to this dual nature of Pittsburgh? There are […]

A History of My Friendship With Mayor Bill Peduto

One of the longest running relationships has been with Mayor Bill Peduto. Our friendship is a very loose use of the word; we aren’t personal friends and have rarely had a lot of face-to-face contact. What we’ve shared has been our investment in LGBTQ and other progressive issues, even though we haven’t always been on the exact same side every time.

Q&A with Drew Leigh Williams, Currently Starring in ‘Not Medea’ at Carnegie Stage

Drew Leigh Williams

“We often have feelings out of frustration and being overwhelmed and life in general that generate moments of wishing we could be free of our responsibilities, such as toward our kids or family. It doesn’t mean we want to be free of them. It means we are  human. These feelings are universal and stretch back […]

Ellen owes the Dixie Chicks an apology

While I’m not particularly surprised that Ellen Degeneres continues to lose touch with the experience of typical queer folks, I was dismayed by her comments defending her friendship with former President George W Bush. “We’re all different and I think that we’ve forgotten that that’s okay that we’re all different … but just because I […]

Visibility in Coming Out, Both Quietly and Publicly #NationalComingOutDay

Yep I'm Gay

I had an idea to explore an important question around coming out – the need for visibility and representation by publicly out folks in all industries, occupations, walks of life balanced against the very personal decisions we make to come out. I wrote about this in 2015 regarding the workforce of the City of Pittsburgh. […]

Saying “No” is a Revolutionary Act

setting boundaries

Recently, I blew up at another LGBTQ advocate who made some choices that I found questionable. I ended the conversation by telling them “Please don’t message me. I need a break from you. Thank you.” A week later, they unexpectedly sent me an expository email to help me understand their perspective and tell me how […]