Laura, 42, is a Bisexual Mom in Pittsburgh #AMPLIFY

Bisexual Woman in Pittsburgh

What motivated you to take part in this project? I didn’t want to give into the fear. Now more than ever, we need to be seen and heard. I remembered the movie ‘Milk’ (loved that movie!) and Sean Penn (as Harvey Milk) saying ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are!’ but now I can’t seem to verify that anywhere. But, the quote I can verify as Harvey Milk’s, that is just as relevant is..’Hope will never be silent’. Here’s to never losing hope.

Black Trans Woman Candace Towns, 30, is 23rd Victim of Anti-Trans Violence in 2017

30-year-old Candace Towns of Macon, Georgia is the 23rd transgender person lost to anti-trans violence in 2017. From Monica Roberts at Transgriot: Towns was staying at the Rodeway Inn on Eisenhower Parkway, was last seen alive Saturday, and was reported missing on Sunday.  At 4 PM EDT Tuesday an anonymous 911 call was received  reporting […]

Pittsburgh City Paper Explores Regional Drag Culture

Pittsburgh Drag Tween

You should go read the Pgh City Paper issue about the drag community, including interviews with our friends Kierra Darshell and Esai aka E! The Dragnificent.  There’s a lot more – an editorial, exploration of drag kings, and other interviews.

Writing Disrupts Complacency #NaBloPoMo Day One

What is your favourite part about writing? I’m rolling my eyes as I tackle this prompt. Regular readers know that I wrestle with the idea of identifying as a writer or artist or anything like that. I’ve adjusted to the idea that blogging is an art form and that blogging is a writing style. And […]

30 New Posts and Donors in 30 Days #NaBloPoMo

November is here and with it, National Bloggin Month aka NaBloPoMo In previous years, we’ve celebrated in various ways: blogging each day for NaBloPoMo (2014) co-organizing a blogging award project and blogger art exhibit (2015) bringing together political bloggers to reflect on the past ten years in blogging (2016) This year, we are going to […]

Brad, 33, is a Gay, Black Man Who Does Charity Work as a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence #AMPLIFY

gay black man pittsburgh

We talked for maybe 20 seconds, and he invited me to the first group meeting of the semester. It was all quick and mundane, but my mind lingered on him afterwards as I thought, “This is a man, and he is gay. He is a gay man.” It wasn’t even about sex, just the idea that a man could be gay and live his life without shame.

Butler Mayoral Election is Referendum Vote on Municipal NonDiscrimination Ordinance Says Local Trans Activist

“[The Nov 7 General Election] will be seen as a referendum vote [on nondiscrimination ordinances].  So, if it fails, no elected official will bring this back up anytime soon, in Butler or the surrounding area. If we get this passed, then it will show the neighboring municipality that it is not political suicide to bring this up and vote on it.”

Stephanie Montez is 22nd Transgender Person Murdered in 2017

A week after her body was discovered, friends of Stephanie Montez spoke out to make sure her authentic identity was acknowledged. The friends of Corpus Christi transgender woman Stephanie Montez were left aghast as their search for her revealed that the Sheriff had identified her as a “man in a dress” in an inexcusably transphobic […]

Enter to win ‘Meaning of Life’ from Kelly Clarkson #Giveaway

Kelly Clarkson giveaway

“This Is A Grown Ass Woman’s Record. . . “ – Kelly Clarkson MEANING OF LIFE the brand-new album from international superstar KELLY CLARKSON Featuring the hit single “Love So Soft” and “Whole Lotta Woman” Out NOW: https://atlantic.lnk.to/ Meaningoflife Facebook.com/Kellyclarkson Instagram.com/Kellyclarkson Twitter.com/Kelly_Clarkson #MeaningOfLife Rulez You can enter as often as you like, but you can only […]

Meg, 30, is a Genderqueer Femme in Washington County #AmplifyUpdates

At the request of our contributors, we are creating space for people to submit updates. 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 to this new post. This will […]