The Journalists LGBTQ+ Toolkit is designed primarily to assist journalists who don’t normally cover the LGBTQ community.

The advice is drawn from outside media experts and our own members who are professional journalists for both mainstream media and the LGBTQ press. We also offer story ideas and new ways of thinking for reporters who are experienced in covering LGBTQ life.

“When is a Crime Hateful? Covering Bias Attacks in America” offers tips on how journalists can improve coverage of LGBT-related hate crimes.

Here’s an excerpt:

“You probably know the name Matthew Shepherd, but what about Sakia Gunn? Both were young people widely believed to have been murdered because they were gay. Yet Gunn’s brutal stabbing in Newark, N.J., in May 2003 has received little of the media attention that followed Shepherd’s death in 1998.

“As with other crime stories, the victims’ race, socioeconomic background, and gender can play a role in the amount of coverage a particular case gets. How should reporters cover crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people?”

Click here to read the complete article.