Commentary:
When the majority representative is the minority

Angela Strader
NLGJA Reporter Staff Writer

To most of the NLGJA convention attendees, including the student journalists with whom I have been working this week, being a part of “Out in the Sunshine” means something a bit different from what it means to me.

For most present, the convention is a chance to meet and interact with other gay and lesbian professionals, learn from gay and lesbian workshops and improve how journalists address important issues in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

While the first two reasons don’t necessarily apply to me, the third is the main reason I applied for the student project, which ultimately led me here to South Beach and to this convention.

As a straight woman, my minority perspective on the convention represents a majority of journalists in the media today, most of whom would benefit from the knowledge available here. From the other members of the student project, I have learned about all types of issues facing the LGBT community, both broad and specific.

At the ABC News panel the students attended Friday morning, I gained a better understanding that all journalists should aim to be neutral about the issues on which they are reporting, to be journalists and not advocates on the job; but journalists, like all people, still have the responsibility to be honest about their lives.

I learned that professionals who may still be in the closet for fear of losing their jobs will not open up until this threat is diminished, and this cannot happen without more acceptance from straight professional journalists.

I came to the NLGJA student project for many reasons. I came because it seemed like a great opportunity to gain experience in journalism and to expand my resources. Mostly, however, I came because I agree wholeheartedly with the NLGJA’s mission to foster fair and accurate coverage of LGBT issues.

As someone with several gay friends and who supports gay rights, I realized that my sexual orientation shouldn’t stop me from both furthering my career and supporting this mission.

I believe it to be the responsibility of any journalist to report fairly and accurately on all types of issues and people. I hope to take with me to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and wherever my career takes me, a heightened sense of the issues in the coverage of the LGBT community and the confidence that I can help bridge the gap between the problems and their solutions.