Roman Knows to the Depths of His Soul That He Is a Man #AMPLIFY

Pennsylvania Transgender

  Name: Roman Barker Age: 35 County of Residence: Allegheny, formerly Westmoreland Preferred Pronouns:  He/Him/Sir How do you describe your identity? I am a Caucasian male Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I started out telling my mom I was “bi” – first you have to understand that my mom […]

Kaley is Trans, Queer and a Fan of Gender Outlaws

Transgender Beaver County

Please note that this is our 70th published AMPLIFY q&a since we began in late May 2015. Thank you to Kaley and everyone who has shared their story. Name: Kaley Age: 30 County of Residence: Allegheny, Grew Up in Butler County Preferred Pronouns: she/her How do you describe your identity?  I am first a human being, then a woman, […]

The Questions We Should Be Asking About The Delta Foundation

Blog Update

Editor’s Note – Five years after publication of this blog post, we were requested to remove the name of someone mentioned. Typically, I would not remove content, but given the increasing incidents of hate crimes and violence targeting the LGBTQIA community, it felt like the right thing to do. I am writing this to explain […]

Janie From Brackenridge: Being Trans Limits Many Things #AMPLIFY

Westmoreland Transgender

Name: Janie Age: 48 County of Residence: Westmoreland Pronouns:  us/they How do you describe your identity? I am transgendered MTF.. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? my parents was my strongest supporters.And tried to find the answers for me and people who was transgender When I was 13. Go figure […]

Jesse Talks About Living as a Trans Woman in A Culture of Fear

Transgender Pittsburgh

Name:  Jesse Oak Rise Age:  32 County of Residence:  Allegheny Preferred Pronouns: She / her How do you describe your identity? While physically I appear more masculine, spiritually I feel more feminine and doing what I can to make my physical self aligned with my spiritual self while trying to avoid (more) harassment, beatings, and the possibility […]

Zella Ziona, 21 of Maryland, Most Recent Trans Woman of Color Murdered

Zella Ziona Transgender

More heartbreaking news, this time from Gaithersburg, Maryland where 21-year-old Zella Ziona became the 22nd transgender woman to be murdered in the US during 2015. A witness told ABC7 he saw the victim, identified as Zella Ziona of Montgomery Village, surrounded by four or five teenagers. There was an argument, then he says one of […]

Big Burrito Group Updates Trans Inclusive Language

Big Burrito Transgender

You may recall earlier in the year we reported that the folks at Big Burrito had made an ill-conceived attempt at humor by referencing Caitlyn Jenner in their “celebrity” portion of their menu at the Mad Mex restaurants. After backlash from the community, Chef Bill Fuller and his team pulled the menu and issued an […]

Arrest and Update in the Murder of Kiesha Jenkins

Kiesha Jenkins

Last week, 22-year-old Kiesha Jenkins was murdered in Philadelphia. Kiesha was a trans woman of color and a student at Temple University. Kiesha, known to some as Kesh, was the victim in an ugly violent attack. Police have not made any arrests as of yet, but they are considering she was the victim of a […]

Trans Woman of Color Kiesha Jenkins, 22, Murdered in Philly

Kiesha Jenkins

  Just moments after I blogged about the murder of Melvin in Detroit, I read about the murder of Kiesha Jenkins – a 22 year old trans woman of color in Philadelphia. Kiesha uses the name Tatted Godess Kesh on her Facebook profile where dozens of friends are posting tributes. Kiesha Jenkins, 22, was shot […]

How #AMPLIFY Has Changed My Life

I’m nine months into my artistic residency and four full months into the #AMPLIFY project, at least the publication phase. Seems like a good time to do some reflecting. If I were going to put up a sculpture to describe my life this year, it would be #AMPLIFY. It would be a beautiful reclaimed wood sculpture. […]