FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, September 6, 2023
PRESS CONTACT: Clare Lefebure
press@nlgja.org or 202-588-9888
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists announced that co-publishers Susan Horowitz and Jan Stevenson, publisher Franco Stevens, and journalist James B. Stewart are the 2023 inductees into the LGBTQ+ Journalists Hall of Fame.
“Today, we celebrate the remarkable contributions of four trailblazing individuals who have not only broken down barriers, but also illuminated the path towards a more inclusive and compassionate world through their journalism,” said NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists Executive Director Adam Pawlus. “As we welcome them into the LGBTQ+ Journalists Hall of Fame, we honor their unwavering commitment to truth, storytelling, and equality.”
The LGBTQ+ Journalists Hall of Fame was launched to honor outstanding LGBTQ+ journalists who have exemplified the association’s mission to advance fair and accurate coverage of LGBTQ+ communities and issues. To date, the LGBTQ+ Journalists Hall of Fame has honored 51 individuals, living and deceased, who have left a lasting mark on their profession through their own courage and mastery of the practice of journalism.
Journalists and co-publishers Susan Horowitz and Jan Stevenson have been covering the triumphs, setbacks, and everyday experience of the Michigan LGBTQ+ community through their weekly publication, Between The Lines, for over 25 years. As activists and journalists, Horowitz and Stevenson met when both served as volunteers on the board of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force. The couple purchased the then-monthly Michigan publication in1995 and expanded the simple 12 page monthly into a vital weekly newspaper to chronicle the best and worst events facing the LGBTQ+ community in the state and across the nation. Horowitz and Stevenson, as co-publishers and editors, were determined to shine a light throughout the community, and especially to report on struggling groups and causes that deserved attention. While other gay publications throughout the U.S. struggled and so many folded, Between the Lines remained a vital lifeline in the American Midwest until the couple chose to retire at the end of 2020 and ensure their paper and business enterprise were transferred to new, responsible, and capable hands. Today, Between the Lines remains the largest and longest-running LGBTQ publication in Michigan.
Frances “Franco” Stevens is a pioneering lesbian publisher, editor, and community leader. She founded Curve magazine (originally titled Deneuve) in 1990 in her personal mission to make queer women feel less alone. She took on this challenge at a time when few other lesbian publications existed, and many LGBTQ+ women did not feel visible within the broader gay community. Stevens and a team of volunteers launched the magazine’s first issue using money she won at the racetrack as she struggled to convince advertisers that lesbians were a viable market. The full-color, glossy mainstream lifestyle magazine covered national and international news stories, politics, celebrity interviews, style, travel, and trends oriented around the lesbian experience. Though Stevens sold Curve to Avalon Media in 2010 due to health reasons, she and her wife, Jen Rainin, repurchased it in 2021. The couple then donated it to the newly-created Curve Foundation, which aims to “resume the mission of Curve Magazine and continue to tell queer stories and fund queer women’s culture.” According to the foundation’s mission statement, it will “empower lesbians, queer women, trans people, and non-binary people to share our culture and our stories, connect with each other, and raise visibility.” Franco’s journey to found the magazine in the 90s and understand its importance today is documented in the 2021 film Ahead of the Curve. Stevens lives in San Francisco with her spouse and family.
James B. Stewart is currently a contributor to The New Yorker and a columnist for The New York Times, as well as an award-winning author, attorney and educator. In 2007 he was ranked 21st on Out magazine’s “50 Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America.” Born in Quincy, Illinois, Stewart is a graduate of DePauw University and Harvard Law School while also serving as Bloomberg Professor of Business and Economic Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. In 1988, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism for his articles in The Wall Street Journal about the 1987 dramatic upheaval in the stock market and insider trading. These writings led to the publishing of his best-selling nonfiction book, Den of Thieves, that chronicled the criminal conduct of Wall Street arbitrager Ivan Boesky and junk bond king, Michael Milken. His 1999 work, “Blind Eye: The Terrifying Story of a Doctor Who Got Away with Murder,” won the 2000 Edgar Award in the Best Fact Crime category. “DisneyWar,” his 2005 book on Michael Eisner’s reign at Disney, won the Gerald Loeb Award for Best Business Book.
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About NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists:
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. For more information, visit www.nlgja.org.