Janna Masia Barkin is the proud mother of a transgender son.  She is also a published author, a professional speaker, a coach and counselor for transgender families and individuals, and a passionate advocate for transgender youth rights.  Janna's book, "…

Dustin Parker, a 25-year-old transgender man, was fatally shot on the job while driving for Rover Taxi in McAlester, Oklahoma early on New Year’s Day. Parker is the first violent death of a transgender or gender non-conforming person in 2020…

I will always remember the date. It was October 8th, 2008 and I remember my parents waking me up, telling me that they loved me, and that I was going to a boarding school. Being a…

Intimate Partner Violence - From “Protector” to “Unprotected" 

It was 2010… a frigid day in mid-January. After a long shift, I finally reached my driveway. As I pull in I see “her” car, a purple Monte Carlo. When I say…

LGBTQ people are people whom God loves. They are people that Jesus the Christ died to save. I am a morally conservative Christian who recognizes that I live in a changing culture. It would be wrong to try to legislate…

I have coworkers, close friends, relatives, patients, and a child that identifies with the LGBTQ community. I am a mother of a transgender person and as a pediatric pharmacist I take care of this population as well. This is a…

The City of West Hollywood strongly rejects the Trump administration’s proposed rule to amend Section 1557 of the Health Care Rights Law, a part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that, as currently written, offers protections to transgender people in…

The proposed changes to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act will negatively affect the communities the law is meant to protect, including the LGBTQ community. I oppose this proposed rule because I was a recipient of gender-affirming surgery, thanks…

In 2013, my wife was working as an attorney in a solo practice. I had recently come out as transgender and as a result, lost my job. We needed health insurance but neither of us could get approved. We had…

Story credit to Wanda Martinez-Johncox and I'm From Driftwood

At the age of 13, Wanda was watching the Miss Universe pageant on her family's black and white television in Puerto Rico.  When Miss Puerto Rico won the crown, Wanda wrote…

March is Women's History Month.  It serves to commemorate and encourage the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.  CAN will be featuring strong women who act as advocates and educators within the LGBTQ…

Ami and Val of Zionsville, PA are adoptive moms to three beautiful kids who came out of the foster system as older children. They have been featured twice in the Huffington Post Gay Voices "Let Love Define Family" series:

February…

February marks Black History month, and this year, CAN is featuring photos and quotes from some of our members who have made significant contributions to the LGBTQ community.  Keep checking back as we add more content throughout the month!  Want…

In honor of International Trans Awareness Week, I asked Twitter follower Faith from North Carolina three questions:

1.  At what age did you start living your truth?

Faith:  I tried to come out at 27 but it didn't…

I'm Samantha, from the UK, a Happily Married Trans Woman & Mother. 

It took me far too much of my life realize that the only person holding me back from being my true self, was me...In fact, I was…

Born in the small town of Kearney, Nebraska, Brody Ray knew he wasn’t like everyone else at the age of 3.  He says, “As I started to figure out what made boys and girls different, I realized I wasn’t connecting…

I called Gary on a Friday morning, and he chatted with me from his home in Lake Conway, Florida; which is located on the same street as the former Pulse Nightclub.  He tells me the site is being made into…

Curtis Lipscomb on Leadership in the Black LGBT Community 

Curtis Lipscomb is the Executive Director of LGBT Detroit and the Founder of Hotter Than July, Detroit’s Annual Black Gay Pride Celebration 

LGBT Detroit is a Detroit…

Andre is the Executive Director of The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada

By the time I was 17 years old, I decided that what I wanted to do for a living was to help people, I…

My name is Karen Fierro, I am twenty-two years old, I am queer, undocumented, and unashamed. I currently serve as the Community Assistant at the Tacoma Rainbow Center, a local LGBTQ resource center in Pierce County, Washington. I benefit from…

President Trump says that Transgender people serving in the military will distract the force from fighting and winning wars. He says people like me are a burden that harms readiness. Let’s be clear, the only thing that will ensure success…

(Written by Tanya Witt for Center Action Network) 

Dan and I met through mutual friends in 2014. Quiet, gentle, intelligent, with a dry sense of humor; Dan is firmly embedded within the Long Beach LGBTQ community and loved by…

I've lived a large part of my life looking for community, for a sense of belonging and wanting to be a part of something bigger than myself.  I was an Asian orphan, adopted during the years following the Korean Conflict…

My story of coming out was one that required me almost ending my life before having the courage to face the truth. Since I was 17 I have been in mental health counseling. While I had some of the more…