Reece, 31, Grew up in Southern Virginia, but Found LGBTQ Connections in Pittsburgh #AMPLIFY

Name: Reece Age:  31 County of Residence:  Allegheny, formerly Butler County.  Lived prior to that in Southern Virginia. Pronouns: he/him/his How do you describe your identity? Mostly gay. Most of my life I identified as bisexual. A lot of guys come out as bisexual to “soften the blow” for when they later come out as gay. That […]

Tara, 24, is a Femme, Queer Human #AMPLIFY

Name:  Tara Foran Age: 24 County of Residence: Philadelphia, formerly Allegheny County Pronouns: she/her How do you describe your identity? Femme queer.  Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I came out when I was 17. At the time, I was witnessing a shift in the way the people around me […]

Q&A with Lauren from ‘Punksburgh’ blog, named ‘Best Local Blogger 2017’ by Pgh City Paper

In 2016, received this email from a guy named Blake informing me that I had been voted the first-ever ‘Best Local Blogger’ in the Pgh City Paper Reader’s Poll. I thought it was a prank. But it was not – Pittsburgh City Paper readers picked a queer, disabled, middle-aged woman at the first blogger to […]

30 New Posts and Donors in 30 Days #NaBloPoMo

November is here and with it, National Bloggin Month aka NaBloPoMo In previous years, we’ve celebrated in various ways: blogging each day for NaBloPoMo (2014) co-organizing a blogging award project and blogger art exhibit (2015) bringing together political bloggers to reflect on the past ten years in blogging (2016) This year, we are going to […]

Helen, 51, Came Out as Bisexual in the Army National Guard #AMPLIFY

Bisexual Pittsburgh

Your Name: Helen Franziska Gerhardt Your Age: 51 Your Pronouns: She, her, Your County of Residence:  Allegheny How do you describe your identity? Bisexual Tell me about the first LGBTQ person whom you met. What impact did they have on your life? I was about eight years old when I met the woman from whom I received my middle name, Franziska […]

E! The Dragnificent, Age 12, Headlining at Austin International Drag Festival 2017

Dragnificent E

Over the past few years, I’ve had a chance to get to know a local queer family with two sets of adults, co-parenting a genderfluid child who is a frequent performer in the local scene. Esai is a sweet kid with amazing stage presence and so much love. And a really cool family that is […]

Maya, 20, Identifies as a Black Queer Fat Femme Woman #AMPLIFY

My queerness was never the only thing I had to deal with, and trying to understand who I was in the midst of the rest of my life was so daunting. Name: Maya Age: 20 County of Residence: Allegheny, previously Columbia, MD Pronouns: She/Her/Hers How do you describe your identity? I am a Black, Fat, Femme, cis woman, Jewish, advocate and […]

Joel, 35, is Gay, a Trans Guy, Polyamorous, Christian, Parent, & Husband #AMPLIFY

Name:  Joel Age:  35 County of Residence:  Allegheny. Grew up in Crawford. College in Mercer Pronouns: he/him/his How do you describe your identity?  Gay, Trans Guy, Polyamorous, Christian, Parent, Husband. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I first came out to my husband as trans in 2012. I was […]

Trans Woman Chay Reed Shot & Killed in Miami

Chay Reed

28-year-old Chay Reed was shot to death Friday in the West Little River neighborhood of Miami-Dade. She is the 9th trans woman of color to be murdered in the US during 2017. Neighbors provided home surveillance footage to the police, telling the media that they saw several people on the sidewalk before 5 AM. One […]

Fish Fry Friday: Elks Lodge 339 (Northside)

Name: Elks Lodge 339 Date: April 14, 2017 Time We Ate: 5:30 PM Random review of #fishburgh adventures during Lent. Find a fish fry on this Google maps collection. You can also follow them on Facebook and find tons of reviews and suggestions. Here is our general criteria: In review, the factors we assess or review include: Location/directions/parking/signage Atmosphere/Volunteer […]