Kristina Grant Infiniti, 47, is 11th QTPOC To Be Killed in 2015

Kristina Grant Infiniti

A 47-year-old trans woman, Kristina Grant Infiniti (also known as Kristina Gomez Reinwald) was found murdered on Sunday, February 15, 2015.  Kristina was a Latina with Cuban heritage. The police according to a NBC6 report are now calling the case a homicide. Note that this news report uses Kristina’s old name. Police didn’t find any sign […]

The Tweet Seats – Celebrating Bricolage Urban Scrawl

Bricolage

I was quite thrilled and honored to be one of two local twitter users invited to live-tweet an upcoming fundraiser for Bricolage as an extension of their “tweet seats” initiative. While many theater companies include social media in their media plans, few do so for fundraisers. This is an innovative approach to community engagement and […]

40 Under 40 Pgh Updates Nomination Form To Be More Trans Inclusive

Pittsburgh 40 Under 40

Since 1999, Pittsburgh Magazine and PUMP have teamed up to recognize young leaders in Southwestern Pennsylvania through the ’40 Under 40′ initiative. I was among those honored in 2004 – one of three white lesbian and gay nominees. Each year, I encourage people to submit names because I know it can have an impact. I […]

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, […]

Bring Andre Gray Home: A Gay Black Man Disappears in Pittsburgh

On October 23, 2014, Andre Gray disappeared. Andre is a 34 year-old gay black man with a loving family and a circle of friends who miss him dearly. He is more familiarly known as Dre or Pok’ie, nicknames and endearments that remind us that Andre is more than a missing gay black man – he […]

First Ever Trans Specific Civil Rights Bills Introduced in PA General Assembly

PA Rep Mark Cohen

PA Representative Mark Cohen (D-Philadelphia) has introduced  the first ever transgender specific civil rights bills in Pennsylvania history. The Transgender Health Benefits Act HB304 is based on a piece of Philadelphia legislation  that allows for transition related healthcare for government workers, but the state bill covers public, as well as private and Medicaid plans. Despite this progress, […]

PA Winery Tours Benefits #MostWantedArtists

PA Winery Tour

As I’ve shared, I’m now an Artist in Residence with Most Wanted Fine Art (MWFA) gallery in Garfield. It is a terrific community engagement project that supports public art throughout the region. I was very happy to connect the gallery with an opportunity to secure sustainable funding through a partnership that focuses on fun things […]

When Elder Dogs Stumble

My guys are 13 years, 2 months old this week. That’s a good long life for their breed mixes. Over the past two years, they have slowed down considerably. They stopped playing as much in the yard and began meandering or simply sitting to sniff the wind. They both had trouble navigating the steps to […]

Nine QTPOC Killed Nationwide During First 41 Days of 2015

I was at a conference last weekend with 800+ progressives folks from across Pennsylvania. I repeatedly tweeted about the disappearance of Andre Gray, asking my colleagues to share the information. About five did. Then I stood up during the LGBTQ panel to speak his name and ask again for acknowledgement. No one shared it. Another […]

Penny Proud of New Orleans is Fifth Trans Woman of Color Killed in 2015

Penny Proud

This time of year, Mardi Gras and New Orleans are in my mind – I lived in Louisiana for three years in the early nineties. I was terribly saddened (and angry) to learn that another trans sister of color has lost her life to violence in New Orleans. Earlier today, police found the body of […]