NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists is a journalist-led association working within the news media to advance fair and accurate coverage of LGBTQ+ communities and issues. We promote diverse and inclusive workplaces by holding the industry accountable and providing education, professional development and mentoring.
Since its founding in 1990, the organization has grown to include more than 800 members and 25 chapter organizations, including 10 student chapters, in the United States.
The Stylebook on LGBTQ+ Terminology is intended to complement the prose stylebooks of individual publications, as well as the AP Stylebook, the leading stylebook in U.S. newsrooms.
It reflects the association’s mission of inclusive coverage of LGBTQ+ people, includes entries on words and phrases that have become common and features greater detail for earlier entries.
This stylebook seeks to be a guide on language and terminology to help journalists cover LGBTQ+ subjects and issues with sensitivity and fairness, without bias or judgment. Because language is always changing, this guide is not definitive or fully inclusive. When covering the LGBTQ+ community, we encourage you to use the language and terminology your subjects use. They are the best source for how they would like to be identified.
The Stylebook on LGBTQ+ Terminology will be continually updated and the latest version will always be available at www.nlgja.org/stylebook.
Additionally, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists has worked in close partnership with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) to create a Spanish-language version of the Stylebook. The result is El Manual de Estilo sobre las Comunidades LGBTQIA+, which seeks to expand NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists’ reach in promoting fair and accurate coverage of LGBTQ issues and people to Spanish-speaking journalists and publications.
Several other diversity journalism organizations offer similar Style Guides.
National Association of Black Journalists Style Guide
National Association of Hispanic Journalists Cultural Competence Handbook
Indigenous Journalists Association Reporting Guides
Trans Journalists Association Style Guide
Sincerely,
NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists Stylebook Committee
Updated March 2023
Editors: Sarah Blazucki and Jeff McMillan
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