The Advocate Wins Two NLGJA Journalism Awards

The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association announced the winners of its 2014 Excellence in Journalism Awards on Wednesday.

In its print and online reporting category, The Advocate garnered wins in two of the nine categories. Michelle Garcia, the LGBT news source's managing editor, received the Excellence in Multimedia Award for "The State of Pride in Sports," an indepth analysis of the progress of LGBT rights in the sporting arena over the past 40 years.

In addition, The Advocate's news director Sunnivie Brydum was honored alongside D. David Robinson for "We Are Here: LGBTI in Uganda," a profile of the brave LGBT activists who are fighting injustice in one of the world's most homophobic countries. The piece, which generated controversy after editors at a national tabloid plagiarized and reprinted the entire piece as a way of targeting the activists featured, was also honored with a 2014 GLAAD Media Award earlier this year.

Other notable honorees in this category include Mark King, a contributor to HIV Plus who was recognized for his blog My Fabulous Disease. David France was also recognized for his Academy Award-nominated documentary How to Survive a Plague, which chronicles the early days of the AIDS epidemic in New York.

Windy City Times publisher Tracy Baim, veteran reporter Lisa Keen, and longtime New York Times copy editor Donna Cartwright will each be inducted into NLGJA's Hall of Fame.

In its category of special recognition awards, NLGJA announced that Chris Geidner, a senior political reporter for BuzzFeed, would receive the Journalist of the Year Award for "pieces that soared above policy and law, bringing us Edie and Thea, and how their story wove into a decades-long civil rights struggle," stated one judge.

Lila Shapiro, a reporter for the Huffington Post whose "beautifully executed body of work" ranges from gay bars to conversion therapy, won the Sarah Pettit LGBT Journalist of the Year Award for the second year in a row.

The awards will be presented August 23 at Breaking Barriers, the 2014 NLGJA National Convention in Chicago. See the full list of the organization's Excellence in Journalism Awards on the next page.

LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame Inductees
Tracy Baim, Windy City Media publisher, editor, author, historian and filmmaker
Lisa Keen, often considered the dean of America's gay political reporting
Donna Cartwright, veteran copy editor at The New York Times and longtime transgender, LGBT and labor activist

Journalist of the Year Award
Chris Geidner

Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for the LGBT Journalist of the Year
Lila Shapiro

Excellence in Blogging
Mark King for "My Fabulous Disease"

Excellence in HIV/AIDS Coverage Award
David France for "How to Survive a Plague"
Honorable Mention: Steve Blanchard for "Chasing the Bug"

Excellence in News Writing Award
Timothy Cwiek for coverage of Nizah Morris case
Second: Beth Hawkins "Same-sex marriage, Minnesota and the Supreme Court: an FAQ for the befuddled"

Excellence in Feature Writing Award
First: Gabriel Arana for "Soldier without a War"
Second: Melissa Griffiths for "LGBTQ in the Capital" (series)
Third: Beth Schwartzapfel for "Little Boxes"

Excellence in Opinion/Editorial Writing Award
First: Tracy Baim for "The content of our character: Trayvon and us"
Second: Gail Shister for "Is Your Husband Gay?"
Third: Steve Friess for "My Turn as a Target of 'God Hates Fags' Preacher Fred Phelps"

Excellence in Online Journalism Award
Dani McClain for "Being 'Masculine of Center' While Black"

Excellence in Multimedia Award
Michelle Garcia for "The State of Pride in Sports"

Excellence in Photojournalism Award
D. David Robinson and Sunnivie Brydum for "We Are Here: LGBTI in Uganda"

Excellence in Student Journalism Award
Samuel Nemir Olivares Bonilla for "Boston Groups Reach Out to LGBT Youth of Color"

Excellence in Local Television Award
John-Carlos Estrada for "Bar Kicks Out Gay Couple for Dancing"

Excellence in Radio Award
Emma Jacobs for "One Gay, Binational Couple's Story -- and Hopes -- As Supreme Court Decision Nears"