Established in 2005 as part of NLGJA’s 15th anniversary celebration, the LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame was launched to honor LGBT journalists who have shown courage and resolve by telling the truth, including their own personal truths, whatever the cost and whatever the difficulties.
The first inductee in 2005 was NLGJA founder Leroy F. Aarons. Here’s an excerpt from his biography for the LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame:
“By the time a 56-year-old Leroy Aarons outed himself in an emotional address at the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) conference in 1990, he’d already had a remarkable journalism career as a longtime Washington Post scribe, co-founder of the Maynard Institute For Journalism Education and eventually as executive editor of the Oakland Tribune.
“But in stepping into the limelight as a proud gay man, he turned himself into a pioneer and catalyst for hundreds of other gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender journalists to come out in their newsrooms. The NLGJA was born shortly after that momentous speech, and under his direction, emboldened journalists across the nation to quietly but firmly insist on better, more accurate coverage of LGBT issues.”
Click here to read the complete biography.