Q&A with Khari Mosley, Candidate for City Council, District 9

The way to forge the reconnection will be bold regional planning and investing in a 21st-century transportation system that rethinks how to connect neighborhoods, commercial hubs, and regional destinations. A connected city would include a reimagined bus system, bike trails, safe sidewalks, and a feasibility study of light rail expansion. Our next post of our […]

“Shame On You (Insert Lesbian Slur)” For Calling Out Local Labor Leader Over Affordable Housing

Phil Ameris lesbian bashing

I spent Saturday afternoon tabling for #ProtectTransKids projects at a local arts event. This meant I repeatedly described the anti-trans abusive behavior of the neighbor who targeted the young Black trans teen at the heart of the project. People shared their own stories – their personal experiences, their family members, grandkids, nieces. In the midst, […]

Correction: Three Young Trans Folx Were Murdered in Western Pennsylvania This Past Week

Jasmine Cannady

Earlier this week, we reported on the tragic shooting death of 22-year-old Jasmine Cannady and younger brother, Jeffrey ‘JJ’ Bright, in Ambridge, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. At that time, we noted that JJ identified as a trans male teen, having begun his transition at age 12. He was 16 at the time of his death. Since […]

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 […]

Why I’m Not Going to Cancel My Post-Gazette Subscription

The reasons to despise the Block family owners of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are almost endless. From the Washington Post And yet the most toxic relationship in American media right now may be between Post-Gazette journalists and its publisher, whose family has owned the paper for nearly a century. That includes the ‘bad’ ones running media […]

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 […]

The 20 Most Widely Read Blog Posts from 2019

Top Blog Posts of 2019

Time for the annual wrap-up of the most widely read blog posts during 2019. I use terms like “popular” fully aware that the topics of some of these posts are serious and sober. But it is useful to know what people are choosing to read on blogs like this one. When I compiled this list, […]

Highmark Holiday Pops and PSO Return With Holiday Tradition to Remind Us That Music is Vital to Society

Pittsburgh Holiday Pops

Music, beautiful music, is vital to our society. The Highmark Holiday Pops are back for 2019 through December 22 at Heinz Hall. Tickets start at $22. Deck the halls with boughs of holly – and all of your favorite holiday music! Bring the whole family to experience Pittsburgh’s holiday tradition with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, […]

Why I Ended My Fiscal Sponsorship Relationship with Persad Center

Persad Center Shame

My fiscal sponsorship relationship with Persad Center has formally ended. I made the decision earlier in the fall after two specific incidents made me aware beyond a shadow of a doubt that allying the #AMPLIFY and other community art projects with the current incarnation of Persad was both unhealthy and hurtful to my LGBTQ neighbors. […]

Q&A: Crafters with activist leanings will be at Pittsburgh’s first holiday Craftivist markeplace

Craftivist Pittsburgh

Joining the annual array of holiday craft shows is a brand-new entry – Craftivists. On Saturday, November 30, 2019 at 11 AM – 4 PM, you’ll find an array of socially conscious crafters exhibiting at The Union Project in the East End. We are pleased to be the social media sponsor for this intriguing new […]