NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, is an American

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that professio ...

dedicated to unbiased coverage of

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

issues in the media. It is based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and the membership consists primarily of journalists, students, educators, and communications professionals. The organization was previously known as the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA), but changed its name in 2013 to "NLGJA: The Association of LGBT Journalists" to reflect the diversity of the communities it represents. In 2016, it added a "Q", updating its name to "NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists." According to the NLGJA's website, "NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, is an organization of journalists, media professionals, educators and students working from within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of LGBTQ issues. NLGJA opposes all forms of workplace bias and provides professional development to its members." The association offers professional development opportunities for its members, in addition to resources newsrooms including a Rapid Response Task Force, Stylebook Supplement on LGBTQ Terminology, and informational tip-sheets.

History

The association was founded by Roy Aarons in 1990, along with other journalists, Elaine Herscher, Shannon Hickey, David Tuller, Victor Zonana, and Kathleen Buckley, who made up its first board. Jen Christensen took over as NLGJA national president following the death of Michael Triplett, who died January 18, 2013, less than six month after his election. Past national Presidents of NLGJA include Roy Aarons, Karen-Louise Boothe, Robert Dodge, Steven Petrow, Eric Hegedus, David Steinberg and Michael Triplett. NLGJA hosts three annual benefit events to support its programs throughout the year: the Headlines & Headliners Benefit in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, Dateline:DC in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, and L.A. Exclusive in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. The events have drawn guests including

Don Lemon Don Lemon (born March 1, 1966) is an American television journalist most well known for being a host on CNN. Lemon anchored weekend news programs on local television stations in Alabama and Pennsylvania during his early days as a journalist. He ...

Hoda Kotb Hoda Kotb ( ; arz, هدى قطب, ''Hudā Quṭb''; ; born August 9, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News morning show ''Today'' and co-host of its entertainment ...

Meredith Vieira Meredith Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. She is best known as the original moderator of the daytime talk show '' The View'' (1997–2006), the original host of the syndicated ...

Rue McClanahan Eddi-Rue McClanahan (February 21, 1934 – June 3, 2010) was an American actress and comedian best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on '' Maude'' (1972–78), Aunt Fran Crowley on '' Mama's Family'' (1983–84), and Blanche ...

, and Barry Manilow. The association has inspired the founding of the French association of LGBTQ journalists in 2013. NLGJA works with the Centers for Disease Control as part of the Partnering and Communicating Together to Act Against AIDS (PACT) program. As part of the partnership, NLGJA offers workshops and resources to educate journalists about the HIV & AIDS epidemic.

Conventions

From its inception in 1990, NLJGA hosts an annual convention inviting their members to participate in top-level training sessions, thought-provoking discussions, and social & professional networking events. From 2003 to 2016, a one-day LGBT Media Summit was added to the event to educate and network journalists working within

LGBT media Gay media refers to media that predominantly targets a gay, lesbian or LGBTQ+ allied audience. The primary target market for gay media may also more broadly be considered to include members of a LGBTQ+ community. Secondary targets are LGBTQ+ allie ...

. The 2012 convention was the first time NLGJA participated in the joint UNITY Journalists convention, held in Las Vegas with the

Asian American Journalists Association The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational and professional organization based in San Francisco, California with more than 1,500 members and 21 chapters across the United States and Asia. The current presi ...

, the

National Association of Hispanic Journalists The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) is a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to the advancement of Hispanic and Latino journalists in the United States and Puerto Rico. It was established in 1984. NAHJ has approxim ...

and the

Native American Journalists Association The Native American Journalists Association, based in Norman, Oklahoma, on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, is an organization dedicated to supporting Native Americans in journalism. The organization hosts the annual National Native Media ...

. 2010 marked the 20th anniversary for NLGJA. It hosted its annual convention in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

.NLGJA , Convention
/ref> In 200

NLGJA held its first international convention in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. Previous conventions have been held in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

and

, among other cities.

The group published a quarterly newsmagazine called ''Outlook'' until the mid-2000s. The magazine focused on

stories in the workplace and workplace issues such as

domestic partner A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee ...

benefits, and updates readers on NLGJA's activities at the local and national levels. The magazine had a circulation of over 3,500. As it was written by news professionals, it had a high level of professional writing and was recognized as a source for commentary on LGBTQ workplace issues.

LGBTQ Journalist Hall of Fame

Starting in 2005, the NLGJA has inducted noteworthy LGBTQ journalists into a Hall of Fame so that their legacy may be remembered for generations to come. Inductions occur during the NLGJA National Convention each year along with the annual Excellence in Journalism awards. Inductees by year:

2017

Jinx Beers Jinx Beers (October 12, 1933 – October 4, 2018), born Clara Jean Beers, was an American activist and editor. She was founder of ''The Lesbian News'', the longest-running newspaper for the lesbian community in the United States. She was also a ...

: Founding publisher and first managing editor of America's longest running lesbian newspaper, ''The Lesbian News'', launched in 1975. She is a pioneering journalist as well as a lifelong feminist and advocate for human rights. *

Dan Savage Daniel Keenan Savage (born October 7, 1964) is an American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBT community activist. He writes ''Savage Love'', an internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column. In 2010, Savage and his husba ...

: Award-winning journalist and author, TV personality, and activist best known for his political and social commentary, as well as his honest approach to sex, love and relationships. His sex advice column, “Savage Love,” introduced over 25 years ago, is now syndicated throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia.

2016

Ina Fried Ina Fried (born December 17, 1974), formerly Ian Fried, is an American journalist for Axios. Prior to that, she was senior editor for All Things Digital, a senior staff writer for CNET Network's News.com, and worked for Re/code. She is a freq ...

: American journalist for '' Recode''. Prior to that, she was senior editor for All Things Digital and a senior staff writer for CNET Network's News.com. She is a frequent commenter on technology news on National Public Radio, local television news and for other print and broadcast outlets. * LZ Granderson: American journalist, a contributor at ABC News and a columnist for ESPN. A senior writer and columnist for ''

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year ...

'' and ESPN.com's Page 2, he has contributed to the channel's ''SportsCenter'', ''Outside the Lines'', ''Around the Horn'', ''SportsNation'', and ''First Take'' and commentates for ESPN's coverage of the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

2015

Armistead Maupin Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. ( ) (born May 13, 1944) is an American writer notable for '' Tales of the City'', a series of novels set in San Francisco. Early life Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Ma ...

: Treasured author of nine best-selling novels, including six ''

Tales of the City ''Tales of the City'' is a series of nine novels written by American author Armistead Maupin from 1978 to 2014, depicting the life of a group of friends in San Francisco, many of whom are LGBT. The stories from ''Tales'' were originally serial ...

'' which were originally collected from the daily serials he wrote in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' beginning in 1976. * Charles Kaiser: Began writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' while still an undergraduate at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. After eight years at the ''Times'', he also wrote for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', '' Vanity Fair'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', and ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', as well as publishing three books, including the

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

-winning ''The Gay Metropolis''. * Lou Chibbaro Jr.: A prize-winning reporter for the nation's oldest LGBT news publication, '' The Washington Blade'', Chibbaro first took up his pen in 1976 under the pseudonym Lou Romano * Alan Bell: Beginning in 1977 when he founded '' Gaysweek'', New York City's first mainstream lesbian and gay newspaper, and continuing with '' BLK'' and ''Blackfire'', Bell has been a pioneer of LGBT journalism and activism, particularly on issues surrounding HIV/AIDS. *

Alison Bechdel Alison Bechdel ( ; born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip ''Dykes to Watch Out For'', she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her graphic memoir ''Fun Home'', whi ...

: Creator of the Bechdel Test for gender bias in works of fiction, has been writing for and about the LGBT community since 1983 when she began producing and self-syndicating

Dykes to Watch Out For ''Dykes to Watch Out For'' (sometimes ''DTWOF'') was a weekly comic strip by Alison Bechdel. The strip, which ran from 1983 to 2008, was one of the earliest ongoing representations of lesbians in popular culture and has been called "as import ...

, a comic chronicling the lives, romances, and political involvement of a group of lesbians in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. * Randy Alfred: Co-founder of the ''

San Francisco Bay Times The San Francisco Bay Times, the first LGBTQ newspaper founded jointly and equally by gay men and women, launched in 1978 and remains one of the largest and oldest LGBTQ newspapers in Northern California. The business includes the 24/7 live-stream ...

'', Alfred produced and hosted '' The Gay Life'' on

KSAN-FM KSAN (107.7 MHz, "107.7 The Bone") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to San Mateo, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by Cumulus Media and it airs a mainstream rock radio format. It also s ...

–the first regularly scheduled LGBT-oriented program on commercial radio.

2014

* Donna Cartwright: Believed to be the first ''

Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time speci ...

'' staffer to publicly disclose her status as a transgender person when interviewed in 1998 by Barbara Walters on ABC Television to discuss her decision to resolve her gender conflict and to transition as a woman. * Lisa Keen: Served as the top editor of one of the nation's most respected gay publications, The Washington Blade, for 18 years. She was one of the first two reporters for a gay newspaper to be credentialed to cover the White House and Congress, she has covered

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

cases since 1985 and she is one of the only reporters to carefully analyze gay voting trends in presidential elections. * Tracy Baim: Publisher and co-founder of the ''

Windy City Times ''Windy City Times'' is an LGBT newspaper in Chicago that published its first issue on September 26, 1985. History ''Windy City Times'' was founded in 1985 by Jeff McCourt, Bob Bearden, Drew Badanish and Tracy Baim, who started Sentury Publicat ...

'', Baim began her career at ''Gay Life'' newspaper in 1984, a month after graduating from Drake University.

2013

Mark Segal Mark Allan Segal (born 1951), is a social activist and author. He participated in the Stonewall riots and was one of the original founders of the Gay Liberation Front where he created its Gay Youth program. He was the founder and former presiden ...

: Publisher of the ''

Philadelphia Gay News ''Philadelphia Gay News'' (PGN) is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper in the Philadelphia area. The publication was founded in 1976 by Mark Segal, who was inspired by activist Frank Kameny when they met in 1970. ''PGN'' ...

'' and gay activist. *

Bob Ross Robert Norman Ross (October 29, 1942 – July 4, 1995) was an American painter, art instructor, and television host. He was the creator and host of '' The Joy of Painting'', an instructional television program that aired from 1983 to 1994 on ...

: Founder of the ''

Bay Area Reporter The ''Bay Area Reporter'' is a free weekly newspaper serving the LGBT communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is one of the largest-circulation LGBT newspapers in the United States, and the country's oldest continuously published newspaper ...

''.

2012

* Jill Johnston: writer for the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' and ''New York Times Book Review''. She is best known for her book ''Lesbian Nation: The Feminist Solution''. *

Randy Wicker Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of them ...

: the first openly gay person on East Coast television, and considered the first out PR professional.

2011

* W. Dorr Legg: pioneering gay activist and co-founder of ground-breaking gay publication,

ONE, Inc. One, Inc., or One Incorporated, was one of the first gay rights organizations in the United States, founded in 1952. Organization The idea for an organization dedicated to homosexuals emerged from a Mattachine Society discussion meeting held on O ...

* Don Michaels: reporter in the 1970s for highly respected ''

Washington Blade The ''Washington Blade'' is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. The ''Blade'' is the oldest LGBT newspaper in the United States and third largest by circulation, behind the ''Philadelphi ...

'', and later its publisher. * Michelangelo Signorile: author; Sirius XM radio host; co-founding editor of influential ''

OutWeek ''OutWeek'' was a gay and lesbian weekly news magazine published in New York City from 1989 to 1991. During its two-year existence, ''OutWeek'' was widely considered the leading voice of AIDS activism and the initiator of a cool new sensibility in ...

'' magazine.

2010

* Lisa Ben, pseudonym for the editor of the first lesbian publication, ''

Vice Versa References

Additional references * * {{Latin phrases Lists of Latin phrases, V ca:Locució llatina#V da:Latinske ord og vendinger#V fr:Liste de locutions latines#V id:Daftar frasa Latin#V it:Locuzioni latine#V nl:Lijst van Latijns ...

'' * Hank Plante: Emmy- and Peabody-winning television anchor and reporter. * Richard Rouilard: Early NLGJA member and editor-at-large for '' The Advocate'' magazine.

2009

Garrett Glaser Garrett Glaser is a retired news reporter who was one of the first US television journalists to "coming out, come out" publicly as a homosexual. His coming out occurred during the course of a speech he made before a large group of TV and radio ex ...

: the first television journalist to come out of the closet to the radio and television news industry * Ronald Gold: A sharp writer with an uncompromising style, Gold built a career writing for a number of publications, including ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' * Deb Price: Began her column for ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the ''Detroit Tribune'' on Februar ...

'' inviting readers to help her come up with a less awkward way of introducing her boss to her partner

2008

* Richard Goldstein: Founder of the ''Village Voice''s annual Queer issue and author of several novels and essays on issues within the gay rights movement * Gail Shister: First mainstream reporter to be vocally "out" and an active member of the NLGJA

2007

* Jim Kepner: Writer for publications like ''ONE'' magazine and the

PRIDE Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) w ...

newsletter, which then became the '' Los Angeles Advocate'' * Jack Nichols: Founding editor of ''GAY'' newspaper and one-time editor of ''Sexology'' and GayToday.com *

Barbara Gittings Barbara Gittings (July 31, 1932 – February 18, 2007) was a prominent American activist for LGBT equality. She organized the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) from 1958 to 1963, edited the national DOB magazine ''The Ladd ...

and Kay Tobin Lahusen: Known for their work with '' The Ladder'', the

Daughters of Bilitis The Daughters of Bilitis , also called the DOB or the Daughters, was the first lesbian civil and political rights organization in the United States. The organization, formed in San Francisco in 1955, was conceived as a social alternative to le ...

publication; also participated in early gay rights demonstrations during the 1960s

2006

Marlon Riggs Marlon Troy Riggs (February 3, 1957 – April 5, 1994) was a Black gay filmmaker, educator, poet, and activist. He produced, wrote, and directed several documentary films, including '' Ethnic Notions'', ''Tongues Untied'', '' Color Adjustment'' ...

: Writer and director of documentary films about the

gay rights movement Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Some focus on equal rights, such as the ongoing movement for same-sex marriage, while others focus on liberation, as in the ...

and

race relations Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in the ...

2005

* Leroy F. Aarons: Founder of the NLGJA who was an author, playwright, and journalist * Phyllis Lyon &

Del Martin Dorothy Louise Taliaferro "Del" Martin (May 5, 1921 – August 27, 2008) and Phyllis Ann Lyon (November 10, 1924 – April 9, 2020) were an American lesbian couple known as feminist and gay-rights activists. Martin and Lyon met in 1950 ...

: Founders of lesbian publication ''The Ladder'' and the first same-sex couple to be married in

* Thomas Morgan III: ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reporter and editor who, as president of the National Association of Black Journalists, opened doors for fellow gay and lesbian journalists * Sarah Pettit: Co-creator of ''Out'' magazine and one-time Arts editor for ''

'' and ''

'' *

Randy Shilts Randy Shilts (August 8, 1951February 17, 1994) was an American journalist and author. After studying journalism at the University of Oregon, Shilts began working as a reporter for both '' The Advocate'' and the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', as wel ...

: Reporter for '' The Advocate'' and the ''

'' and author of several books focused on the AIDS epidemic * Don Slater: Founded ''ONE'' magazine and fought for freedom of distribution of gay and lesbian publications

Excellence in Journalism Awards

Continuing a tradition started in 1993, the NLGJA Excellence in Journalism Awards are given each year to recognize journalists who have made a difference in their field. Each year the organization chooses recipients for awards in over 30 categories spanning fields including local television, radio,

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

coverage, photojournalism, and feature writing. The awards are given out at the NLGJA National Convention each year.

2018 NLGJA Excellence in Journalism Award recipients

The 2018 Excellence in Journalism Awards were announced on July 3, 2018, with awards presentations scheduled for September 8–10, 2018, in Palm Springs, California, during the organization's three-day annual convention. * NLGJA Journalist of the Year Award:

Ronan Farrow Satchel Ronan O'Sullivan Farrow (born December 19, 1987) is an American journalist. The son of actress Mia Farrow and filmmaker Woody Allen, he is best known for his investigative reporting of allegations of sexual abuse against film producer H ...

* Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for the LGBTQ Journalist of the Year:

Diane Anderson-Minshall Diane Anderson-Minshall (born March 19, 1968) is an American journalist and author best known for writing about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender subjects. She is the first female CEO of Pride Media. She is also the editorial director of ' ...

* The Al Neuharth Award for Innovation in Investigative Journalism: Ken Schwencke for “Documenting Hate”,

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...

and the Documenting Hate Coalition * Excellence in Book Writing Award: Judy Wieder for “Random Events Tend To Cluster”, Lisa Hagan Books * Excellence in Feature Writing Award: Alex Mohajer for "A Tale of Two Marches," Huffington Post * Excellence in Feature Writing Award (Daily): Kathryn Joyce for “She Was an Ultraconservative Texas Christian. Then Kai Was Born and Everything Changed”,

Splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...

* Excellence in Longform Journalism Award: Laura Rena Murray for “Trans, Teen and Homeless: On the Streets of New York With America’s Most Vulnerable Population”,

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

* Excellence in News Writing Award: Jen Colletta for “Lesbian Couple Turned Away From PA Bridal Shop”, Philadelphia Gay News * Excellence in News Writing Award (Non-daily): David Artavia for “Sordid Lives Actor Alleges Mogul Benny Medina Tried to Rape Him”, The Advocate * Excellence in Photojournalism Award: Carolyn Van Houten for “Life in Transition”, San Antonio Express-News * Excellence in Profile Writing Award: Danika Worthington for “Portraits of Pride: An Exploration of the LGBTQ Community Ahead of PrideFest”,

Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

* Excellence in Sports Writing Award: Tim Teeman for “When Floyd Mayweather Shouts ‘Faggot’, This Is What LGBT People Hear”, The Daily Beast * Excellence in Student Journalism Award: Leah Juliett for “Youth and LGBTQ Communities Disproportionately Victimized by Revenge Porn and Cyber Crimes”, GLAAD * Excellence in Travel Writing Award: Christopher Muther for “For Real: Salt Lake City is America’s Super Gay, Super Cool Hipster Haven”, The Boston Globe * Excellence in Blogging Award: Josh Robbins for “Fauci: From a Practical Standpoint the Risk is Zero”, ImStillJosh.com * Excellence in Digital Video Award: Roman Feeser, Alex Romano, Angelica Fusco, Nia Stevens and Luisa Garcia for “Uncharted: State of Mind”, CBS News * Excellence in Multimedia Award: Bill Daley for “Belmont Rocks: New Project Remembers Popular LGBTQ Gathering Spot”,

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

* Excellence in Online Journalism Award: Jessica Mason Pieklo for “Cakes for the Klan? Conservatives Craft a Trojan Horse in Supreme Court’s LGBTQ Discrimination Case”, Rewire.News * Excellence in Column Writing Award: Lucas Grindley for “LGBTs to America: ‘We Told You So‘”, The Advocate * Excellence in Opinion/Editorial Writing Award: Chase Strangio for “How Transgender People Have Survived (and Thrived) Under a Year of Donald Trump”, INTO * Excellence in Documentary Award Nick Broomfield and Marc Hoeferlin for “Whitney: Can I Be Me”, Showtime and BBC * Excellence in Local Television Award Peggy Kusinski, Katy Smyser, Lisa Capitanini, Richard Moy, Julio Martinez and Nathan Halder for “Some Local Rules Keep Transgender Athletes From Competing In High Schools”, NBC5 Chicago * Excellence in Network Television Award Todd Cross and Gabe Gutierrez for “One Year After Pulse Nightclub Shooting, 4 People Reflect on How Their Lives Changed”, Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist/NBC * Excellence in Podcast Award: Jacob Brogan and Benjamin Frisch for “Working”, Slate * Excellence in Radio Award Natalie Winston, Gabriela Saldivia and David Greene for “‘They Told Me I Wasn’t A Human Being’: Gay Men Speak Of Brutal Treatment In Chechnya”,

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

* Excellence in Bisexual Coverage Award Kate Sloan and Indiana Joel for “What It’s Like to Talk to Your Doctor About Sexual Health When You’re Bisexual”, Xtra * Excellence in HIV/AIDS Coverage Award

Linda Villarosa Linda Villarosa (born January 9, 1959) is an American author and journalist who is a former executive editor of ''Essence'' magazine. She has worked on health coverage for ''Science Times''. She is also author of several books, and her first novel ...

for “America’s Hidden HIV Epidemic”,

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

* Excellence in Queer People of Color (QPOC) Coverage Award Margie Fishman for “A Child’s Journey to ‘Truegender’”,

The News Journal ''The News Journal'' is the main newspaper for Wilmington, Delaware, and the surrounding area. It is headquartered in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near New Castle, and is owned by Gannett. History The ancestry of the News Jo ...

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

* Excellence in Religion Coverage Award Phoebe Wang for “God + The Gays”, The Heart (Radiotopia)'

NLGJA Journalist of the Year Award recipients

* 2017: Katie Barnes, ''

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

'' * 2016: Dominic Holden, '' BuzzFeed News'' * 2015: J. Lester Feder, '' BuzzFeed'' * 2014: Chris Geidner, '' BuzzFeed'' * 2013: Michael Luongo, '' Freelance'' * 2012: Steven W. Thrasher, ''

'' * 2011: LZ Granderson, ''

ESPN Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year ...

'' * 2010: Randy Gener, '' American Theatre'' * 2008: Martha Irvine,

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

* 2007: James Kirchick * 2006:

Jason Bellini Jason Bellini (born July 12, 1975) is an American journalist. Since 2012, he has been a correspondent for ''The Wall Street Journal''. Bellini was a CNN correspondent from 1998 to 2005, where he produced stories often using only a hand-held digi ...

, CBS News on

Logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

* 2005: Meredith May, ''

Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for LGBTQ Journalist of the Year recipients

* 2017: Erik Hall, ''

OutSports ''Outsports'' is a sports news website concerned with LGBT issues and personalities in amateur and professional sports. The company was founded in 1999 by Cyd Zeigler, Jr. and Jim Buzinski. ''The Outsports Revolution'' (Alyson Publications), by ...

'' * 2016: Lucas Grindley, '' The Advocate'' * 2015: Trish Bendix, ''

AfterEllen AfterEllen (also known as AfterEllen.com) is an American culture website founded in 2002, with a focus on entertainment, interviews, reviews, and news of interest to the lesbian and bisexual women's community. The site covers pop culture and lifes ...

'' * 2014:

Lila Shapiro Lila or LILA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lila'' (album), debut album by American country music singer Lila McCann * ''Lila'' (movie), a 1968 sexploitation film * The Meaning of Lila, a comic strip written by John Forgetta and L. A. ...

, ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' * 2013:

, ''

'' * 2012: Chris Geidner, '' Metro Weekly'' and BuzzFeed * 2011: Michael Luongo, Freelance writer * 2010: Kerry Eleveld, '' The Advocate'' * 2008: First Place: Laura Douglas-Brown, '' Southern Voice'' ** Second Place: Lou Chibbaro Jr., ''

'' ** Third Place: Kynn Bartlett, '' Colorez!'' * 2007: Ryan Lee, '' Southern Voice'' * 2006:

Malinda Lo Malinda Lo is an American writer of young adult novels including ''Ash'', ''Huntress'', ''Adaptation'', ''Inheritance,'' ''A Line in the Dark'', and '' Last Night at the Telegraph Club''. She also does research on diversity in young adult literat ...

, AfterEllen.com * 2005: John Caldwell, '' The Advocate''

Contributions to journalism

''NLGJA Stylebook Supplement on LGBTQ Terminology''

The NLGJA's most noteworthy tangible contribution to the journalism industry is the ''NLGJA Stylebook Supplement on LGBTQ Terminology'', which fellow journalists can use for reference when writing about topics relating to the LGBTQ community. According to the organization's website it is part of the NLGJA's push to encourage "the association's mission of inclusive coverage of LGBTQ people". The ''Stylebook Supplement'' can be found on the NLGJA website in both English and Spanish.

Press service

In connection with Witeck-Combs Communications, the NLGJA launched OutNewsWire in 2008 to simplify the distribution of news articles relating to the LGBTQ community. The wire has more than 400 journalists receiving updates currently, which are available online. The service comes at a discounted price to "nonprofits hoping to use the service to reach the LGBTQ media".

Newsroom Outreach Project

As early as 1996, the NLGJA, along with

Hollywood Supports Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, developed “sexual orientation in the workplace” seminars that were conducted in Knight Ridder newspapers across on the nation. The seminars were designed to place emphasis on acceptance in the workplace, through discussions of stereotypes and business and legal issues involved with the LGBTQ community. The stated goal of these seminars was to provide an LGBTQ-friendly office environment for LGBTQ journalists, but the discussions also pushed for domestic partnership benefits at newspapers across the nation, one of the main focuses of the LGBTQ rights movement nationwide. The seminars are offered free of charge to news organizations. During the seminars, facilitators introduce employees to the “model of parity” NLGJA developed in order to encourage equality and inclusiveness within the workplace. There are fourteen steps in this model, highlighting both workplace climate and fair compensation. Included in these steps are things like avoiding

double standards A double standard is the application of different sets of principles for situations that are, in principle, the same. It is often used to describe treatment whereby one group is given more latitude than another. A double standard arises when two ...

, promoting balanced coverage, providing the same insurance coverage for all employees, and offering family and medical leave.

Rapid Response Task Force

In order to more directly combat biased journalism, the NLGJA formed the Rapid Response Task Force. This team of journalists addresses any news piece that readers report as being offensive or inaccurate and informs writers and readers of the correct terminology, which furthers their mission of equality and helps to “spread awareness about issues facing the LGBTQ community”. In order to report a biased or offensive story, readers simply email the link or a description of the article to the NLGJA and the problem is evaluated.

Student outreach

In an attempt at connecting with and encouraging future

journalists, the NLGJA created the CONNECT: Student Journalism Project. The program brings 12 young journalists to NLGJA's National Convention each year to form a newsroom and cover the local community and convention events. Since its inception, over 200 students have participated in the CONNECT program. The NLGJA offers several

scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

each year to students "committed to NLGJA's mission of fair and accurate coverage of the LGBTQ community." These scholarships include the Leroy F. Aarons scholarship and the Kay Longcope Scholarshipbr>scholarship
each of which provides tuition money to one LGBTQ student a year.

Membership

Between 2008 and 2009, the organization lost members due to the number of people laid off in the media industry that year. Since then, membership has steadily grown to include over 750 members.

References

External links

NLGJA Homepage

Re:Act to your news blog - the official blog of NLGJA

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Lesbian And Gay Journalists Association American journalism organizations Journalism-related professional associations LGBT organizations in the United States LGBT professional associations 1990 establishments in the United States