As GLAAD's Senior Media Strategist I was honored to moderate a panel on fair and accurate reporting of violence against transgender women of color at this year's National Association of Black Journalists Conference in Boston. The 39th annual event hosts hundreds of African-American journalists from all across the country who come together to celebrate the achievements in Black journalism and discuss pressing issues facing the community.The discussion was held by a fine group of panelists: Monica Roberts a trailblazer in the trans community and founding editor of the GLAAD Media Award nominated blog TransGriot; Kelley Terrell, award winning journalist and filmmaker who is currently the health editor at BET.com and is the former manager of GLAAD's communities of african descent media program; and Kenyan Farrow, author and Policy Director of US at Treatment Action Group.
The panelist discussed the need for inclusion of transgender voices not only in digital Black news sites, but the print publications that have been at the helm of documenting Black culture for decades. They offered the audience of young and seasoned journalists alike best strategies as to how to introduce stories of transgender experience to their various outlets. They answered questions about the importance of respecting pronouns and gender identity shared resources for research and networks.
I also join GLAAD in extending a warm congratulations to our board member, Tiffany R. Warren, who was this year's recipient of the association's 2014 Pat Tobin Award. Warren is the Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Omincon Group, a global communications and marketig company. She is also the founder and President of ADCOLOR, a non-profit that supports inclusion in marketing, public relations, and media industries. This award honors a media professional who serves as a trailblazer affecting the positive representation of African-Americans in media.
In partnership with Lambda Legal and the NABJ, GLAAD co-hosted the LGBT reception for journalists to network and learn more about the LGBT community. The reception provided the opportunity to make further connections with media figures, both in Black media outlets, as well as mainstream media. We will continue working with the journalists we met to further our work of advacing the LGBT community and to serve as a resource for journalists. A special thanks to Southwest Airlines for helping bring the panel together by providing travel vouchers for panelists.