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 […]

LGBTQ Pride in the Environment … Collecting Your Donated Items #PghGreenPride

LGBTQ Pride in the Environment … Recycling Collection Donate Gently Used Items to Support Pittsburgh Community Groups Thursday, June 20, 2019 4-7 PM Goodwill Store – Lawrenceville * 125 51st Street * Pittsburgh, PA For more information: pghlesbian@gmail.com Your donations of gently used stuff will create financial donations for the participating groups that will receive […]

Pittsburgh Roots Pride Organizers Need & Deserve Community Support

These are my own thoughts, I cannot speak for Joy and Michael. In 2015, they stepped up to lead a resistance against corporatized, corrupt Pride defined by Iggy Azalea but grounded in much deeper problems in the regional LGBTQ community. Beyond resisting, they created a three year project, Roots Pride, celebrating and centering those typically […]

2018 LGBTQ Holiday Giving Projects: Supporting Persad, SisTers Pgh, and Garden of Peace

Every year during this season, I ask you to support particularly vulnerable members of our community. This year, we are once again focusing on Persad Center, but two different populations – isolated rural LGBTQ elders and LGBTQ youth. We have also invited SisTers Pgh and Garden of Peace to be part of our program because […]

Freedom Isn’t Free: Invest in the Work of POC in Our Community

Today is the Fourth of July and many of us are celebrating and/or enjoying the relative degree of freedom we have as American citizens. Not everyone is free and not everyone saw independence in 1776 or anytime soon after. The enslavement of African peoples as well as the eradication of Native Americans indigenous to these […]

Angela is a Queer Mother & Intersectional Feminist #AMPLIFY

Name: Angela Age: 28 County of Residence: Allegheny,  formerly Berks, Montgomery, Bucks in PA. Also lived in Rome, Italy, and the SF Bay Area of California Preferred Pronouns: she/her How do you describe your identity? I am a white cis woman. I am disabled by our society that allows people (mostly who are feminine) to remain chronically ill. I am […]

Here’s Five More Ways Jackie Evancho Can Support Trans Youth Right Now

Jackie Juliette Evancho

So this is where we are. Singer Jackie Evancho performed at the Inauguration of Donald Trump in spite of repeated warnings about the danger he posed to the transgender community, including mine. She did it anyway. This week, President Trump revoked Title IX guidelines that protected transgender children in schools from sex based discrimination. It […]

Jay, 33, Says Stories Are Part of Queer Liberation #AMPLIFY

Queer Mennonite

Name:  Jay Age:  33 County of Residence:  Allegheny Preferred Pronouns:  they/them How do you describe your identity? white, genderqueer, queer, Mennonite, survivor with PTSD, justice worker Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face?  It was a slow process. I had my first girlfriend freshman year of college at […]

AMPLIFY Project, Blog Voted ‘Best GLBT Media Source’ in 2016 Reader’s Choice Awards

It is always nice when someone acknowledges your work, your vision or even just you. I’ve written in the past about my appreciate for the Keystone Alliance Gaylife Newsletter based in the Johnstown area. So I am pleased to be among the honorees in their 2016 Reader’s Choice Awards. What’s really exciting for me is […]

Naheen, 29, Is a Gay Black Male Who Feels Confident in Himself #AMPLIFY

Pittsburgh Gay

Name: Naheen Age: 29 County of Residence: Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: He, him How do you describe your identity? I am a gay black male Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I was forced to come out after my mother allegedly accidentally was going through my voicemails on my old cricket phone […]