Pittsburgh Vigil for Andi Woodhouse, Trans Man Who Died By Suicide

Andi Woodhouse Vigil

On Saturday, January 3, a dozen people gathered on the 10th Street Bridge near Pittsburgh’s South Side to honor the memory of Andi Woodhouse. Andi was a 24-year-old trans man, a new resident of Pittsburgh who died by suicide in mid-December at this location. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did a nice story leading into the vigil. […]

UPDATED 24 Year Old Trans Man Dies By Suicide in Pittsburgh

Andi Woodhouse

The news about the death of Leelah Alcorn outside of Cincinnati brought to my attention a similar tragedy much closer to home. On Saturday, December 13, 2014, 24-year-old Andi Woodhouse died by suicide near the 10th Street Bridge in Pittsburgh. Andi was from Lebanon, PA. He was in Pittsburgh temporarily for some services and he […]

Trans Woman of Color, Angel Elisha Walker, Missing in North Carolina

Angel Elisha Walker

20-year-old Angel Elisha Walker has been missing in Salisbury, North Carolina since October 30.     From Planet Transgender Angel Elisha Walker was last seen by a Salisbury officer Oct 30th driving west away from the city on Highway 150. Her car was found Sunday in the opposite direction, east of Fayetteville in Sampson County. Her […]

PA To Host 19 Events Honoring the Trans Day of Remembrance (TDOR)

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Thursday, November 20 will be the 16th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR.) According to the Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition: At least 19 organized vigils will be held in communities throughout the commonwealth for TDoR on November 20th, 2014. This is large increase from just a few events held in Pittsburgh and Southeastern Pennsylvania before […]

Nashville Trans Woman Gizzy Fowler Found Murdered

Gizzy Fowler

Wednesday, a 24-year-old transwoman of color from Nashville was found murdered in Bordeaux, TN – a suburb of Nashville. Her name was Gizzy Fowler. Police are still investigating the motive in the shooting death. Fowler was found laying next to an open-door car in a driveway at a house of a homeowner that recently passed […]

Pittsburgh Municipal Equality Index Score Increases for 2014

Municipal Equality Index

The 2014 HRC Municipal Equality Index has been released. Pittsburgh residents have gained significant benefit from the 2014 court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania, but has only made slight actual gains in terms of municipal initiated efforts to address equality. Pittsburgh’s most noticeable ongoing weakness is evident in the “gender identity” indicators. The scoring […]

Facebook, Queer Folks and What’s In a Real Name

Facebook has recently been enforcing their “real/legal names” policy, resulting in a disproportionate number of members of the LGBTQ community being forced to change the name displayed on their Facebook profile. This includes a significant number of drag performers and members of the drag community. Facebook policy around names: Facebook is a community where people […]

Brynn Tannehill Speaks to the National TransPride Pittsburgh Conference

Brynn Tannehill

I “met” Brynn online a few years ago through a network of LGBTQ leaders. She came to Pittsburgh to offer a keynote address at the National TransPride Pittsburgh Conference in September 2014. I think she’s brilliant as she discusses acceptance, visibility and tolerance. You can keep up with Brynn’s regular contributions to Huffington Post.  Brynn […]