FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, October 21, 2020
PRESS CONTACT: Dillon Lewis
press@nlgja.org or 202-588-9888
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists announced that New York Times Magazine contributing writer Linda Villarosa and Outsports.com founders Jim Buzinski and Cyd Zeigler are the 2020 inductees into the LGBTQ Journalists Hall of Fame.
“Each of our inductees this year represents a unique trailblazing spirit: Linda in her decades-long work to tell Black womens’ stories at Essence and in her books, and shed light on the state HIV across the United States, and Jim and Cyd in defying stereotypes and breaking boundaries by carving out a spot for LGBTQ people in sports coverage,” said NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists President Sharif Durhams. “These folks have given us something to look up to and aspire toward, and we are proud to recognize their work by inducting them into our LGBTQ Journalists Hall of Fame.”
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 48 individuals, living and deceased, who have left a lasting mark on their profession through their own courage and mastery of the practice of journalism.
Villarosa is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, where she covers race, inequality and health. For several years, she edited the health pages for The New York Times, working on health coverage for Science Times and for the newspaper at large. She was also the executive editor of Essence Magazine. She is the author or co-author of three books and teaches reporting, writing and Black Studies at The City College of New York in Harlem. She has trained journalists from around the world to better cover the HIV/AIDS epidemic at the International AIDS conferences in Barcelona, Bangkok, Toronto, Mexico City, Vienna, Melbourne and Durban.
Her 2018 cover story, “Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis,” was nominated for a National Magazine Award. Her 2017 article, “America’s Hidden HIV Epidemic,” won an NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Excellence in Journalism Award. Her essay on medical myths was included in the New York Times’s 1619 Project in August 2019. Most recently, she covered the toll COVID-19 has taken on Black communities in America and the environmental justice movement in Philadelphia.
She has won awards from Lambda Literary Foundation, The American Medical Writers’ Association, The Arthur Ashe Institute, Lincoln University, the New York Association of Black Journalists, the National Women’s Political Caucus and the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center.
Buzinski and Zeigler founded Outsports.com in 1999. At first, the blog primarily covered the N.F.L., but soon became a hub for sports news related to LGBTQ people. Since its founding, Outsports has reported on countless coming out stories, milestones and instances of homophobia and transphobia in sports. Outsports has been the recipient of several NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Excellence in Journalism Awards.
Before co-founding Outsports.com in 1999, Buzinski was a reporter and editor. He began his career at the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa., after graduating from Penn State University. Buzinski went on to become an assistant city editor at the paper, a member of the editorial board and food editor.
After moving to Los Angeles, Buzinski was a copy editor and later sports editor for the Pasadena Star-News, then moved to the Long Beach Press-Telegram as the sports editor for 11 years. In 1999, the same year he founded Outsports.com with Zeigler, he began working at the Los Angeles Times as an editor, a position he still holds. In the early 1990s, he was a founding member of the Los Angeles chapter of NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, which formed after a meeting at a home in Hollywood with Roy Aarons. He lives in Los Angeles.
Zeigler has contributed to the Huffington Post, Out magazine, Playboy and The Advocate. He has appeared on CNN and ESPN, and in Sports Illustrated and The New York Times. His book, “Fair Play,” explores how LGBTQ athletes have claimed their rightful place in sports. His latest book, “My Life On The Line,” tells the story of gay NFL player Ryan O’Callaghan. He is former associate editor of the New York Blade and sports editor for Genre magazine.
Zeigler is the recipient of the 2015 Lisa Ben Award for Achievement in Features Coverage. Originally from Harwich, Mass., he now lives in Los Angeles.
The honorees will be recognized at the upcoming NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Virtual Convention this weekend. Buzinski and Zeigler will participate in a fireside chat during the convention with 2016 LGBTQ Journalists Hall of Fame inductee LZ Granderson at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. Villarosa will be interviewed in a fireside chat by LGBTQ Journalists Hall of Fame chair Bob Witeck at 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
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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.