Q&A with Phat Man Dee About Celebrating the Roaring 2020’s, Bisexual Identity, and the Power of Creators

Phat Man Dee Roaring 20s

One of our favorite people, Phat Man Dee, is hosting a fete to celebrate the roaring 20’s. It looks like a lot of fun so we asked her to answer a few questions and that led to this Q&A. Phat Man Dee’s Roaring 2020’s * Friday January 31, 2020 * The Oaks Theater Your Name: […]

Castiel, 36, is Bisexual and Gender Fluid in Westmoreland County #AMPLIFY

Bisexual, gender fluid, Westmoreland County

Name: Castiel Hess Age: 36 County of Residence: Westmoreland Pronouns: He, him, his How do you describe your identity? Bi-sexual, gender fluid Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face?  I let a few close people know slowly out of fear of judgment. It actually took me a really long time […]

Rachel Lange, 42, took a few steps out of their gender closet #AMPLIFYupdates

Queer genderqueer Pittsburgh

At the request of our contributors, we are creating space for people to submit updates to the #AMPLIFY LGBTQ project. We know that for some folks, life has changed so we are offering an opportunity to post an update to earlier responses. We will NOT be modifying that content, but we will create a link […]

Trans Man Dustin Parker, 25, Killed in Oklahoma on New Year’s Day

Dustin Parker trans man Oklahmoa

25-year-old Dustin Parker is believed to be the first transgender or gender non-conforming person to die a violent death in 2020. Dustin was working as a cab driver in McAlester, Oklahoma when he was killed by gunfire early on New Year’s Day. McAlester police are investigating after a man was found fatally shot inside a […]

The 20 Most Widely Read Blog Posts from 2019

Top Blog Posts of 2019

Time for the annual wrap-up of the most widely read blog posts during 2019. I use terms like “popular” fully aware that the topics of some of these posts are serious and sober. But it is useful to know what people are choosing to read on blogs like this one. When I compiled this list, […]

My Western Pennsylvania Snow Globe

Author’s note: My name is Rachel, and I consider myself to be the product of a typical Pennsylvanian upbringing. Fire hall marriages with cookie tables, going to Idlewild Park on a hot summer day, and eating home-made gobs on my back porch, are all things that I remember from my childhood. I am transgender, and […]

“This is What Happens When You Piss Off an Old Lesbian”

Lesbian Transgender Ally

My friend Joyce is a good person – great sense of humor, compassion that extends into forever, good storyteller, and a no bullshit kind of woman. She’s a lesbian, mother of one adult child, and has a cat. And she’s disabled to the point of being mostly housebound especially in bad weather. She lives in […]

Why does J.K. Rowling think her queer and trans fans don’t count?

(TW: transphobia, rape) I’m trying to figure out what’s motivating J.K. Rowling to defecate on her trans and queer fans from a great height, and I’m failing miserably. I’m also at a loss to figure out why the U.K. and Ireland seem to be a nexus for trans-exclusionary bullshit. I have some theories centering around […]

The Criminal Complaint Against Gary Van Horn Illustrates (Again) Divides in Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ Community

The local LGBTQ community is abuzz with the revelation that Delta Foundation President Gary Van Horn has started a Pittsburgh chapter of the Rosco P Coltrane fan club and “unofficially” brought Allegheny County Sheriff Mullen, a few notaries, and his friend “Timmy” along with him. (see images below to interpret that allusion.) Gary has been […]

Suspect charged in murder of 17-year-old Washington State trans teen, Nikki Kuhnhausen

Nikki Kuhnhausen was 17 years old when she disappeared from her hometown of Vancouver, Washington to allegedly meet up with a 25-year-old man she met on Snapchat. That was June 6, 2019. After she was reported missing, David Bogdanov was named a person of interest in her disappearance. Nikki would have turned 18 on July […]