TWOC Keyonna Monroe Blakeney, 22, Murdered in Maryland Hotel

Her name was Keyonna. She was 22.   Another brutal loss as we learn that 22 year old Keyonna Monroe Blakeney, a Washington DC resident, was found dead with sever upper body trauma in a Rockville Maryland hotel room. Keyonna was murdered on Saturday April 16. From the Washington Blade The victim, who identified herself […]

Wes, 44: Queer Trans Man, Parent Wants You To Know That He Exists #AMPLIFY

Trans Pittsburgh

Name:  Wes Age: 44 County of Residence: Allegheny, formerly Westmoreland Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his How do you describe your identity? queer transman Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face?  When it occurred to me that transmen exist I spared no time figuring out what I had to do. Since I was […]

TWOC Shante Thompson, 34, Murdered in Houston

Shante Thompson murder

Shante Thompson was 34 years old. Next month would have been her 35th birthday. She had a mother and friends who loved her. Last night, she and her male friend were brutally murdered in Houston by a group of eight men. From KHOU (Shante’s family is quoted misgendering her.) There was a barrage of bullets […]

Trans Day of Visibility in Pittsburgh

Beginning in 2009, March 31 has been recognized as the International Day of Trans Visibility. In the spirit of the day, I am sharing the AMPLIFY posts from trans identified contributors. To date, we have published 25 contributions from trans contributors, representing about 21% of our contributors. They have ties to at least 13 of […]

Mourning the Murder of Quartney Davia Dawsonn-Yochum, 32, Los Angeles

Quartney Davia Dawsonn-Yochum

Her name was Quartney Davia Dawsonn-Yochum. She was also known as Kourtney Yochum. She was 32 years old. She had two dogs. She also happened to be a trans woman of color. And now she is dead, after a former partner shot her in the afternoon of Tuesday, March 22, in Los Angeles near her home. […]

The Tragic Killing of Jasmine Sierra, 52, TWOC from Bakersfield CA

Jasmine Sierra Trans

A complicated tragic story involving the death of a trans woman of color in Bakersfield, California. From The Advocate: Police found the body of Jasmine Sierra, a transgender woman of color, on January 22 in an apartment on the 1000 block of Monterey Street, according to a report from local TV station KBAK. Police say […]

Shain Describes Being a Gay Kid in the Nancy Reagan Fear Generation #AMPLIFY UPDATED

Gay Mercer County

“He was just thin, lived in NYC, and was gay so in the early 90’s, and being a kid of the Nancy Reagan fear generation, I assumed he had full blow AIDS and that someday I would, too.” Name:  Shain Kish Age: 32 County of Residence:  Mercer County, also lived in Allegheny. Now lives in New […]

Arrest in the Murder of Philly Trans Woman of Color, Maya Young

Maya Young Philadelphia

Police have made at least one arrest in the murder of Maya Young, a 25 year old trans woman of color who was stabbed to death in February.  From Philly.com – NOTE that Maya is misgendered and her old name and criminal history are disclosed without any clear connection to her murder. Tiffany E. Floyd, […]

Monica Loera, 43, First Trans Woman Murdered in 2016

Trans murder

Very sad news from Austin, Texas. A 43 year old transgender woman was murdered earlier in the month. From TransGriot According to the Austin Police Department, 43 year old Monica Loera was engaged in a conversation with a man in front of her home along the 300 block of East Powell Lane in north Austin […]

117 Ways to Describe LGBTQ Identity

We ask contributors this question “Please describe your identity.” No checkboxes. No drop down menu. No predetermined categories. Just an open-ended question and a text field for people to write their response. 117 people have responded thus far (110 published, the others in the ‘to be published’ queue.) As you can see, each person wrote […]