#CatCar Repainted at #PghPride by the Most Wanted Fine Art Crew

It has been a busy Pride season for us. In less than two weeks time, we: recorded a segment for ‘Burgh Vivant recorded a segment for Into Pittsburgh co-facilitated the first local workshop on LGBTQ media issues raised more than $1,000 to support the Peoples Pride March 2K17 spoke with reporters at The Daily Dot, […]

Gloria is a Happy Black Lesbian #AMPLIFY

Gloria Bigelow

Name: Gloria Bigelow Age:  Old Enough County of Residence: Grew up in Allegheny, now lives in California Preferred Pronouns: she How do you describe your identity? Happy black lesbian. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I found support in my friends and in other people in my community. I also […]

Jean Came Out As Bisexual After Her Retirement #AMPLIFY

Bisexual Pittsburgh

Name: Jean Age: 61 County of Residence: Allegheny, Westmoreland, then Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: complete person, happy woman How do you describe your identity? I am an American, who is a white bi-sexual woman, of German, English, and Scottish background. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I came out as bi-sexual to […]

How Allies Can Erase LGBTQ People When Scheduling LGBTQ Events

Allies Pittsburgh

A recurring theme in the ‪#‎AMPLIFY‬ series is the lack of LGBTQ resources – funding, space, services, leadership opportunities, etc. We have lost a lot over the years, that’s true and we are still battling for the most basic rights., including visibility and dignity. Progress is rarely a linear progression, right? So it is especially frustrating to […]

Bisexual Resource Center in Pittsburgh

Bisexual Resource Center

I’ve shared this story before, but it continues to resonate for me (in a negative way) even many years later. I was at a meeting of community leaders called together to discuss some “issues” and the convener made an off-the-cuff remark about transgender people never attending things and bisexuals “well, we know that they don’t […]

Vigil for Andi Woodhouse Set For 2 PM Saturday in Pittsburgh

Andi Woodhouse

Organizers in Pittsburgh have coordinated a vigil for Andi Woodhouse, the 24-year-old trans man who died by suicide in mid-December.  The vigil begins at 2 PM. Details: On Saturday, December 13, 2014, 24-year-old Andi Woodhouse died by suicide near the 10th Street Bridge in Pittsburgh. Andi was a trans man from Lebanon, PA. We will […]

What Does It Mean to Amplify?

How To Be An Ally

The word amplify has been rolling around my brain for months now. I’ve been following two distinct, but interconnected threads on social media about the need for allies to amplify the voices of people of color and transgender people – in lieu of speaking for them. And let me be very clear here – these […]

Reg Henry: LGBT Is A Ridiculous Acronym

Pittsburgh transgender

While there is a certain artistry to deconstructing the propensity of acronyms, Post-Gazette columnist Reg Henry once again decided to add a little homophobic & transphobic thrust into his column du jour. In this case, Henry was condemning what he described as acronyms that are killing honest words. Among these are DOD, STEM, IED and […]

Can I Bring My Gay Friend to the GLCC Youth Programs?

Earlier this week, I represented Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ Community Center (the GLCC) at an event for teen girls in a program called GirlGov . My assigned task was to describe advocacy opportunities with the GLCC. But as so often is the case, my actual reason for being there was something entirely different. The set-up was like speed […]

Allegheny County Email To Domestic Partners

Pennsylvania Equality

I’ve obtained a copy of the email the County apparently sent to 11 employees accessing domestic partner benefits on Tuesday June 24. I’ve noticed a few concerning issues The email uses this language “effective immediately” with no reference to July 31 or a cutoff date. Media reports added that clarification. Effective immediately is a little […]