23 Year Old Western PA Trans Man Killed in Officer Related Shooting

Sean Hake

Police officers responded to a domestic call in Sharon, Pennsylvania around 11:30 PM Friday evening. A 23-year-old resident of the house, Sean Hake, was fatally shot before midnight. Sean was a trans man. Mercer County District Attorney Miles K. Karson Jr. said Saturday he could not comment on the open investigation. He said he expects […]

Two Spirit Lakota Woman Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow Second Reported Trans Murder in 2017

Jamie Lee Wounded Knee

Just days after reporting on the first reported murder of a trans woman in 2017 and the updated last reported murder in 2016, I’m blogging again about another murdered trans woman of color. Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow was 28 years old, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe and a resident of Sioux Falls, South […]

TWOC India Monroe Murdered on Dec 21 and We Just Found Out

India monroe trans

Less than 24 hours after learning about the first transgender person reported murdered this year comes word of a trans sister, India Monroe, who was murdered in December, but misgendered. From Mic.com A transgender Virginia resident known to friends as India Monroe was killed on Dec. 21 in Newport News, Virginia, though she was misgendered and […]

Thank You for Your Generosity These Past Months

I need to take a moment to simply thank you for all that you’ve done these past months. In November, I asked you to help us fund the #AMPLIFY tee shirts and you did. Then I asked you to donate gift cards and cookies to support LGBTQ elders through the PErsad SAGE projects. Then I […]

Mesha Caldwell of Mississippi is First Reported Trans Woman Killed in 2017

Mesha Caldwell Mississippi

Mesha was 41 years old, worked as a beautician and stylist in her hometown of Canton, Mississippi. According to her Facebook profile, Mesha had been a student at Jackson State University. Her friends describe her as stylish and someone who looked good in anything she wore. Her body was discovered at 3:45 PM along a […]

Femme Lesbian Heather Wants to Build Family in Rural Cambria County #AMPLIFY

  Name:  Heather Age: 41 County of Residence:  Cambria, formerly Indiana County Preferred Pronouns: I’m a she, her, girl How do you describe your identity? I’m a white femme lesbian. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I was 20 years old and living with my first girlfriend, and I […]

Inherited Trauma and Coping with Trump

CN: description of suicide, addiction, intergenerational trauma Obviously, I’m struggling to come to terms with the implications of Trump for our nation, especially the most vulnerable among us. One of the ways I manage my anxiety is by working on my family tree. It is similar to working a jigsaw puzzle, but more conducive to […]

Shari, 57, Wants More Inclusivity & Power for QTPOC #AMPLIFY

Name: Shari Age: 57 County of Residence:  Allegheny County, formerly Indiana County Preferred Pronouns: She/her How do you describe your identity? I am a woman who loves, and is affectionately and romantically attracted to  women. I have the capacity to love men and have male friends, but am not sexually attracted to them. I am a multiethnic person, […]

How Do You Stay Informed About LGBTQ Issues? #AMPLIFY

Dialogue swirling about ‘fake news’ and the impact it has on our very real lives We ask each AMPLIFY contributor to tell us how they keep abreast on these matters. As you might expect, each person gave us a unique response. But we dived into the data and did a little light sorting to tease […]

Top Ten Blog Posts of 2016

Dalia Sabae

As popular as they are, the #AMPLIFY posts don’t have the reach that my original blogging does which affirms my commitment to keep these stories intertwined with the rest of the posts. In between writing about the epidemics of violence, the harm of anti-poverty initiatives and some of my own personal experiences with negative factors, we all need the stories of lives lived in spite of those obstacles. I believe reading about the everyday experiences of LGBTQ people in their own words fleshes out the posts that I write about people who can no longer speak for themselves.