Char, 62, is a ‘Very Late Bloomer’ Lesbian in Cambria County #AMPLIFY

  Name: Char Age:  62 County of Residence:  Cambria. Lived in Somerset County during my childhood, until age 21. Preferred Pronouns: She/her How do you describe your identity? Female, woman, lesbian, gay Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I came out after being in a heterosexual marriage for close to […]

KK Compares Small Town Michigan to Pittsburgh From a Lesbian Perspective #AMPLIFY

Name: KK Age: 35 County of Residence: Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: She How do you describe your identity? I am a Caucasian lesbian How would you describe yourself NOW in terms of “being out”? 100% Anyone who knows me knows I’m gay. Tell me about the first LGBTQ person whom you met. What impact did they have on your life? The first person […]

De, 49, Is Concerned About LGBTQ Youth in Rural Western PA #AMPLIFY

Lesbian Beaver County

Name: De Age: 49 County of Residence: Beaver Preferred Pronouns: Her/She How do you describe your identity? Black lesbian woman Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I came our late in life age 35, i had a few gay male friends that supported me. Since I didn’t have any lesbian friends […]

Being Unfriended on Facebook Without Drama. It Can Happen.

Facebook Unfriending

Earlier this fall, I was poking around Facebook when I realized that I had not read any status updates from a certain person whom I’ll refer to as Glenn. We aren’t tight or really actual friends who hang out in real life – friendly colleagues is a fair description. I respect their work, their values […]

Casey, 38, Honors One Year Since Coming Out As a Gay Woman #AMPLIFY

Pittsburgh Queer Women

Name: Casey Age: 38 County of Residence: Allegheny. I spent some time up in Erie when I was about four or so, and I lived in Philly area for about 7 years right before I moved to Pittsburgh in 2008. But I grew up mostly in the Maryland (Baltimore-DC corridor) area. Preferred Pronouns: her, she…for now How do you describe […]

Mair, 55, Came Out the Same Week As Ellen DeGeneres #AMPLIFY

Lesbian Pittsburgh

Name: Mair Age: 55 County of Residence:  Allegheny, previously Westmoreland Preferred Pronouns: Lesbian How do you describe your identity? Tomboy, butch Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I didn’t know I was gay until I was 33 (1993) and met a women I fell for. Actually, she wrote me […]

Raven Has Not Told Anyone That She’s Pansexual Because She’s Afraid #AMPLIFY

Washington County

Name:  Raven Age: 24 County of Residence: Washington Preferred Pronouns: she/her How do you describe your identity? I am pansexual. Once I did more reading into bisexuality, I realized I am attracted to everyone, every gender, every sex. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I have only come out as […]

DJ Scott Is a Gay Black Man Full of Positive Vibes #AMPLIFY

Gay Black Pittsburgh

Read the entire AMPLIFY LGBTQ Q&A archive. AMPLIFY LGBTQ is a new occasional series of blog posts designed to give a “signal boost” to the voices of our LGBTQ neighbors throughout Western Pennsylvania. We are using a Q&A format and will minimize editing their responses. The questions, however, may change as we ask each participant to […]

Sent to Facebook Jail for Anti-Racist Stance But I’ll Be Back

CN – quotes of racial slurs I woke up really late this morning. Ledcat is on vacation this week so built-in alarm clock is not working. 9 AM is too late for my comfort and I had a bad feeling as I rolled out of bed to face the day. Little did I know. I […]

I Just Found My (non) Imaginary Childhood Friend on Facebook

Today’s blogging prompt is a challenge to describe what your imaginary childhood friend’s life would be like now. I didn’t have an imaginary friend, but there was one childhood friend who moved away in second grade. I never saw her again. So for no particular reason, I googled her and up popped a Facebook profile […]