Honored by Pittsburgh Equality Center

The Pittsburgh Equality Center gave me a great honor by focusing on my work in their newsletter as a Community Leader. In this month’s newsletter, we will explore the history of Lesbian Visibility Day, and I am thrilled to note that we will be spotlighting a special member of the Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ community – the inspiring […]

Roxxie Thunder, 27, is a Glittery Pansexual Femme from Beaver County #AMPLIFY

Name: Roxxie Thunder Age: 27 County of Residence: Beaver County, formerly Lawrence, and Allegheny counties Pronouns: She/her/hers How do you describe your identity? Glittery pansexual Femme with a passion for glitz and glamour. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? My coming out experience was a little rough, when I started performing […]

Angie, 32: Out, Loud, and Proud Black Pansexual Mom #AMPLIFY

Black Pansexual Poly Feminist Mom

Name: Angie Age:  32 County of Residence: Allegheny Pronouns: she/her How do you describe your identity? Black Pansexual Female Bodied/Identifying Feminist Poly Mom Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? My coming out experience was a shit storm. I was 15 and my girlfriend at the time forced me to come […]

Pittsburgh Pridefest: The Resistance Years

  The roots of what we’ve come to know as Pridefest in Pittsburgh are, as with many cities, deeply embedded in LGBTQ culture and more as we moved from the multiple resistance efforts in the 1960’s to a nationwide demand for visibility and freedom. At no point was this more apparent than in June 2015 […]

LGBTQ Things To Do in Western PA #AMPLIFY

LGBTQ Things To Do Pittsburgh

Welcome to the second edition of our new feature  – a signal boost to the efforts of our #AMPLIFY contributors to strengthen our communities. Our first post was well received! This list is not all-inclusive or comprehensive, but we’ll do our best to share the items our contributors ask us to promote. If you’d like […]

Kyle Discusses Privilege & Perception of Gay, White, Cisgender Men #AMPLIFY

gay bisexual cis man Allegheny County

How would you describe yourself NOW in terms of “being out”?

I am 100% viewed by most as being out as a gay man, which is funny since I have spent most of my adulthood as bi- or pan-sexual (I adopted the pan-sexual identity after first hearing about it). But, I am a cis-gender man who is married to a cis-gender man. Since most people just assume that means I am gay, that is what I am generally seen as. So, I suppose I am “out,” just not everyone knows the full story.

Ravenna, 37, Pansexual Trans Woman Living in the Allegheny County Suburbs #AMPLIFY

Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I came out at 26 years old. It was tough. I was on the verge of suicide and I had a 2-year-old son depending on my existence.

I dropped a bomb on my life. On relationships. It was the only way. I had no friends. Nowhere to really start. I just got myself out into the queer community. My personality aided greatly in forming my initial friendship and support base. Those early days were very lonely though.

How would you describe yourself NOW in terms of “being out”? Been living openly as a pansexual trans woman for 10 years. I’ve gone through all of the legalities and am quite open in my personal life. I do like to maintain my anonymity in my daily life. I still work where I did through my transition. Work was tough but I fought and survived the experience.