Status of missing Canton drag artist JJ Godbey now a homicide investigation with suspect in custody

Last week, we reported on the disappearance of a 26 year old trans drag artist from Canton, Ohio. Sadly, police have now determined this is a homicide investigation. Canton police announced late Thursday that the disappearance of JJ Godbey is now a homicide investigation. They’ve charged Daniel Mattay, Ryan’s former boyfriend, with four felonies: murder, […]

27 year old Gender Nonconforming Thaddeus ‘Tad’ Keegan Bradley Killed

The body of Thaddeus “Tad” Keegan Bradley was found 9 Sep 2021, in Willits, CA, but identified April 2023. Tad was identified as gender non-conforming and found in women’s clothing,  Their parent reported Bradley missing to the Arcata Police Department in July 2022, Note that we have not been able to determine Tad’s pronouns so […]

Black Gender Nonconforming Teen Shot to Death in Alabama

Jaheim Pugh Bella

This is complicated story about identity, but it is a story that must be shared within that complexity because it also reflects the consequences of intolerance and hate in our society. The victim who was murdered in this story was a 19 year old young adult who was identified by friends as using both he/him […]

87 Trans Stories From Western Pennsylvania Honor Trans Awareness Week 2020

Transgender Awareness Week

The week before Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, we have Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility of transgender people and address issues the community faces. Since 2015, the #AMPLIFY project has curated first person Q&A’s with members of the region’s LGBTQ community. The archive is meant to be a permanent resource to understand […]

84 Trans Stories from Western Pennsylvania on the Trans Day of Visibility

Transgender Awareness Week

March 31 is the International Transgender Day of Visibility, devoted to raising the visibility of transgender and gender nonconforming (GNC) neighbors both in terms of their resiliency and successes as well as the realities of transphobic bias and violence. I’ve curated 84 stories from our #AMPLIFY project to illustrate the multi-faceted experiences of transgender neighbors […]

Maddy, 23, is Queer and Gender Nonconforming in Allegheny County #AMPLIFY

Allegheny nonbinary

Name:  Maddy Age: 23 County of Residence:  Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: She/her and they/their How do you describe your identity? I identify predominantly as a queer woman and as gender non conforming. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I remember coming out as an extremely difficult experience. I really […]