The following article was published on Saturday, August 5th in The UNITY News website, and was written by a UNITYstudent journalist: http://unitynews.org/2012/nlgja-to-weigh-name-change/.
NLGJA to weigh name change
BY BRANDI LICON
UNITY NEWS
UNITY, previously referred to as a coalition for journalists of color, shed that title this year to include the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.
During the opening ceremonies two presenters made a concerted effort to welcome gays and lesbians. This made Ashley Love, who was born intersex and transsexual, feel left out.
“NLGJA pressured UNITY’s board to change its name, arguing it was exclusionary and non-reflective, so shouldn’t NLGJA practice the same inclusion by adding the ‘B’ and ‘T’?” Love said.
Sexual orientation is not equivalent to gender identity or a transexual medical condition, she said during Thursday’s NLGJA membership meeting. Omitting bisexuals and transexuals [and transgender people] from the title glosses over the differences in [the] LGBT [coalition], silences voices and confuses people, including journalists, she added.
At Thursday’s NLGJA member meeting, six people spoke out in support of Love’s request and none of the about 30 people there voiced opposition.
“The issue has never been on the agenda,” NLGJA President David Steinberg told UNITY News. “It has been a topic people have raised in the last year.”
The board will discuss the issue and figure out a change that makes sense, he said.
Love said this change needs to happen soon.
“We are done waiting,” she said.
