AMPLIFY! Donna Met a Female Impersonator Who Made a Lasting Impression

Donna Transgender Pittsburgh

  AMPLIFY LGBTQ is a new occasional series of blog posts designed to give a “signal boost” to the voices of our LGBTQ neighbors throughout Western Pennsylvania. We are using a Q&A format and will mostly avoid editing their responses. The questions, however, may change as we ask each participant to tell us what we’ve […]

CBS Daytime Soap Reveals Transgender Storyline Twist

Maya Bold and the Beautiful

This week, The Bold and The Beautiful revealed a significant plot twist with the disclosure that Maya Avant is a transwoman. The show had played up a “big secret” moment involving Maya’s college-aged sister, referencing family rejection and denial. Maya first appeared on screen in December 2013 as an old-friend of Dayzee with a troubled […]

Eli Conley: Music Opens Space to Connect Queer, Trans Community

Eli Conley

Singer-songwriter Eli Conley will be in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, April 15 from 7-9 PM at Biddle’s Escape in Regent Square. It struck me that the second trans male singer-songerwriter who has come to Pittsburgh in the past year is part of the Americana music tradition (Joe Stevens was the other.) Eli’s unique voice as a […]

Resiliency and Growing a Thick Skin

Last night, Google sent me a little alert informing me that I’ve been TERFd (again!) on a website related to harassing the trans community, especially trans women. My sin is being an ally to trans people (again!) If you’d like to better understand how & why this group of radical feminists bear such animosity for […]

Kristina Grant Infiniti, 47, is 11th QTPOC To Be Killed in 2015

Kristina Grant Infiniti

A 47-year-old trans woman, Kristina Grant Infiniti (also known as Kristina Gomez Reinwald) was found murdered on Sunday, February 15, 2015.  Kristina was a Latina with Cuban heritage. The police according to a NBC6 report are now calling the case a homicide. Note that this news report uses Kristina’s old name. Police didn’t find any sign […]

22 Year Old Ohio Trans Woman Stabbed to Death By Father

Bri Golec

22-year-old Bri Golec has recently returned to a transgender support group in the Akron, Ohio area. She had participated a few years ago, then stopped attending. Recently, she began to more assertively explore her gender identity. Sadly, Bri will not have the chance to continue her journey after an altercation with her father,  Kevin Golec, […]

First Ever Trans Specific Civil Rights Bills Introduced in PA General Assembly

PA Rep Mark Cohen

PA Representative Mark Cohen (D-Philadelphia) has introduced  the first ever transgender specific civil rights bills in Pennsylvania history. The Transgender Health Benefits Act HB304 is based on a piece of Philadelphia legislation  that allows for transition related healthcare for government workers, but the state bill covers public, as well as private and Medicaid plans. Despite this progress, […]

Penny Proud of New Orleans is Fifth Trans Woman of Color Killed in 2015

Penny Proud

This time of year, Mardi Gras and New Orleans are in my mind – I lived in Louisiana for three years in the early nineties. I was terribly saddened (and angry) to learn that another trans sister of color has lost her life to violence in New Orleans. Earlier today, police found the body of […]

Update on the Murder of Taja Gabrielle de Jesus, 4th Trans Woman of Color Killed in 2015

Taja de Jesus

My previous post about the death of Taja Gabrille de Jesus is not properly displaying her name. So I wanted to take a few moments to update you on what I’ve learned.   Taja was a Latina trans woman who lived in San Francisco, originally from San Jose. She worked with a trans organization called […]

Update: Missing Trans Teen Ashley Lane Has Been Found

Ashley Lane

Word is that Ashley Lane has been found safe and will be reunited with their family this afternoon. Columbus police did not release details but said that Ashley Lane, 15, was found about 3 p.m. today. She was being taken to police headquarters to be reunited with her family and to talk to detectives. We […]