2023 NLGJA National Convention

A record 436 LGBTQ+ candidates won office last year, including the first trans and nonbinary candidates to win seats in the Montana Legislature, the first Black LGBT candidate elected statewide in Connecticut and two lesbians elected governor in Oregon and Massachusetts. We’ll explore the barriers they faced, how they overcame them, how the media covered their candidacies and what it all says about the future of LGBTQ candidates running in the future.A discussion about how and why some of the coverage of trans communities has failed to meet journalism’s call to fair, accurate and nuanced coverage. We’ll focus on what questions to ask yourself and your newsroom while you’re thinking about how to do it right — not just in terms of correct language and nuance, but from a meta-level. What stories really matter? How can you catch bias in your own sourcing, and yourself? How do you explain data that’s limited or contested? And how can you catch oversights and spotty news judgment when you’re working on a deadline?