Viva Valezz is a Queer Burlesque Performer Parenting a GenderFluid Child

Allegheny County Lesbian

  Name: Viva Valezz! (aka Dre’) Age: 49 County of Residence: Allegheny Preferred Pronouns:  female How do you describe your identity? I am an old school lesbian… You can call me dyke if you’re my age. We earned that.  You can also call me gay or queer.  I’m also half-Mexican, so I also identify as Mexican-American. And… I’m a mom. […]

Dinah Denmark: Lesbian, Jewish, Buddhist. #AMPLIFY

Dinah Denmark

Name: Dinah Denmark Age: 53 County of Residence: Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: I don’t use them generally How do you describe your identity? Lesbian. Jewish. Buddhist. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? It was 1981, I was 18 years old. My college roommate and I fell in love. Fortunately, I had relatively […]

PJ Identifies as a Cis White Gay Man With a Twist of Genderqueer

Pittsburgh gay

The experiences of ex-pats who left Western Pennsylvania for some reason sheds valuable light on these questions around the regional LGBTQ experience. PJ is a friend who now lives in Chicago, but was here long enough to have some powerful formative experiences. Name: PJ Age:  46 County of Residence: Now in Chicago, but grew up in Westmoreland, […]

22 Year Old Ohio Trans Woman Stabbed to Death By Father

Bri Golec

22-year-old Bri Golec has recently returned to a transgender support group in the Akron, Ohio area. She had participated a few years ago, then stopped attending. Recently, she began to more assertively explore her gender identity. Sadly, Bri will not have the chance to continue her journey after an altercation with her father,  Kevin Golec, […]

Update: Missing Trans Teen Ashley Lane Has Been Found

Ashley Lane

Word is that Ashley Lane has been found safe and will be reunited with their family this afternoon. Columbus police did not release details but said that Ashley Lane, 15, was found about 3 p.m. today. She was being taken to police headquarters to be reunited with her family and to talk to detectives. We […]

15 Year Old Trans Youth Missing in Columbus Ohio

Ashley Lane

Saturday evening, 15-year-old Ashley Lane left their family’s hotel room to attend an event at a Columbus Anime Convention (Ohayocon). They didn’t return. At first their parents thought they might have run away, but they left behind their glasses, coat and phone charger. Now they suspect something worse has happened. There’s no simple way to […]

17 Year Old Ohio Trans Girl Dies By Suicide

Leelah Alcorn

17 year old Leelah Alcorn died by apparent suicide this week in a pedestrian-truck accident in Ohio. Leelah’s death has been widely reported using her old name and with the contents of a note she allegedly wrote before walking along the highway. Neither is helpful.   Leelah was a 17 year old trans girl. Her […]

Ohio Trans Woman Brutally Attacked By Three Men

Candice Milligan

  Earlier in the week, Candice Rose Milligan, a 33-year-old trans activist in Toledo Ohio, was assaulted by three men around 3 PM. Yes, 3 in the afternoon. From NBC24.com According to a police report, Milligan was walking home Monday afternoon when she was approached by three men shouting homophobic slurs. Witnesses say Milligan was […]

Justice for Brittany Kidd-Stergis

Some news from Cleveland regarding the December 2013 murder of 22 year old Brittany Kidd-Stergis.  The man responsible for her death pled guilty on Friday and faces a life sentence. From Cleveland.com A 20-year-old man could spend life in prison after he pleaded guilty Friday to the December slaying of a transgender woman outside a […]

The Week in LGBTQ: April 21, 2013

A summary of our most popular tweets. Please follow us – @PghLesbian24 Now this is how to do a #giveaway http://bit.ly/123c05c #SupportLocalBiz #Pgh #Race4Pgh@Bram_R @BillPeduto Facebook Meme – This Person is Voting Peduto http://bit.ly/17b4nsQ @BillPeduto @PeopleforPeduto#Race4Pgh How We Teach Our Sons To Rape | The Belle Jar http://bit.ly/16WmRiB Thanks to @MMASammichfor the referral. #SAAM How To Discuss HIV Health Issues With Non-Poz Folks | http://bit.ly/ZsQ2V6: http://bit.ly/ZsQ2V9@OneAngryQueer #HIV Stigma? We “get” […]