THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Tracy Baim, Windy City Media publisher, editor, author, historian and filmmaker;

Lisa Keen, often considered the dean of America's gay political reporting; and

Donna Cartwright, veteran copy editor at The New York Times and longtime transgender, LGBT and labor activist.

The LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame was established in 2005, recognizing seven journalists for their commitment, courage and dedication to LGBT issues in the media. Since then, NLGJA has inducted a total of 25 journalists in the LGBT community. This year, the Association honors three more exceptionally talented professionals in Baim, Keen and Cartwright.

"This year's selections are deeply rewarding," said Bob Witeck, Chair of the LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame Task Force. "All three share lifelong habits reporting our stories through solid journalism while inspiring us with their dedication to truth."

Tracy Baim, born in 1963, began her career at Gay Life newspaper in 1984, a month after graduating from Drake University. She cofounded Windy City Times in 1985 and Outlines newspaper in 1987. Lambda Publications, the parent company of Outlines, bought Windy City Times in 2000 and merged it with Outlines, and the parent company became Windy City Media Group. With her lifelong passion for journalism and love of history, for over three decades Baim has earned national accolades as a writer, editor, publisher, author and filmmaker. In 2012, she was editor and coauthor of Gay Press, Gay Power: The Growth of LGBT Community Newspapers in America, a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and a Top 10 selection from the GLBT Round Table of the American Library Association. Just this spring, Baim was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 37th annual Peter Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism — given by the Chicago Headline Club, the largest Society of Professional Journalists chapter in America. A fierce advocate for human rights, Baim uses her voice and her pen to champion equality and to battle against sexism, racism and homophobia in all their forms.

Lisa Keen has been reporting news for LGBT audiences for over 35 years and is frequently considered the dean of gay political reporting in America. [Editorial note: Keen's work appears often in Windy City Times.] She served as the top editor of one of the nation's most respected gay publications, The Washington Blade, for 18 years. She was one of the first two reporters for a gay newspaper to be credentialed to cover the White House and Congress, she's covered U.S. Supreme Court cases since 1985 and she's one of the only reporters to carefully analyze gay voting trends in presidential elections. She won the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association for her coverage of an anti-gay initiative in Colorado and the subsequent landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Romer v. Evans, as well as a Society of Professional Journalists award for her series of interviews — from diagnosis to death — with one of the first gay men to develop AIDS in the early 1980s. She has published commentary in The Washington Post, written environmental news for The Nature Conservancy magazine, and reported local news for The Boston Globe. Keen is also coauthor of Strangers to the Law: Gay People on Trial, published in 2000. Following the sale of the Blade in 2001 she began freelance work for LGBT news organizations around the country, specializing in national legal and political news, through Keen News Service. Keen always will be admired as a journalist's journalist — tirelessly committed to reporting the rapidly changing stories that matter most to LGBT citizens.

Donna Cartwright, born in 1947, served as a highly respected copy editor for The New York Times for three decades, and was a member and officer of The Newspaper Guild before retiring from the Times in 2006. She also has been a longtime transgender, LGBT and labor activist. She has served as co-president of Pride at Work, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituency group of the labor movement, and as a member of the Executive Board of the Maryland State and D.C. A.F.L.-C.I.O. She was a co-founder of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy, the Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey, the National Center for Transgender Equality and TransEpiscopal, the association of transgender Episcopalians, and Gender Rights Maryland. Cartwright is believed to be the first Times staffer to publicly disclose her status as a transgender person when interviewed in 1998 by Barbara Walters on ABC television to discuss her decision to resolve her gender conflict and to transition as a woman. Claiming and affirming her confident identity, Cartwright has been a powerful role model for journalists as well as a powerful force for fairness and change in the workplace.

This year's LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame inductees will be honored August 23 during the NLGJA Awards Reception at Breaking Barriers, the 2014 NLGJA National Convention and 10th Annual LGBT Media Summit. For more information on the convention, visit www.nlgja.org/2014/ .

Also announced were the 2014 Excellence in Journalism Award Winners and Honorees:

Washington, D.C. - Today the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) announces the recipients of its Excellence in Journalism Awards and salutes their exemplary work.

The NLGJA Excellence in Journalism Awards were established in 1993 to foster, recognize and reward excellence in journalism on issues related to the LGBT community. In addition to special recognition awards, awards will be presented for excellence in news writing, feature writing, opinion writing, blogging, local television, radio, online, HIV/AIDS coverage and student journalism.

The 2014 NLGJA Journalist of the Year is Chris Geidner, senior legal and political reporter for BuzzFeed. "Geidner wrote pieces that soared above policy and law, bringing us Edie and Thea, and how their story wove into a decades-long civil rights struggle," wrote one judge. "He added context from a dual profile of Evan Wolfson and Andrew Sullivan."

Geidner was awarded the Sarah Pettit LGBT Journalist of the Year Award in 2012, he was runner up for the 2013 NLGJA Journalist of the Year and his 2011 series on the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell won for Excellence in News Writing.

This year's Sarah Pettit LGBT Journalist of the Year Award goes to Lila Shapiro, reporter for the Huffington Post. This is the second year in a row Shapiro has won this award. A judge praised: "This is a beautifully executed body of work. In the case of the conversion therapy and the gay bar stories, this contestant shows us how social and governmental power brokers work to undermine our community."

The following are special recognition awards and awards for excellence in various news media and platforms.

Special recognition awards:

Journalist of the Year Award

Chris Geidner

Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for the LGBT Journalist of the Year

Lila Shapiro

Print/online awards:

Excellence in Blogging

First: Mark King for "My Fabulous Disease"

Excellence in HIV/AIDS Coverage Award

First: David France for "How to Survive a Plague"

Second: Steve Blanchard for "Chasing the Bug"

Excellence in News Writing Award

First: 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

First: Dani McClain for "Being 'Masculine of Center' While Black"

Excellence in Multimedia Award

First: Michelle Garcia for "The State of Pride in Sports"

Excellence in Photojournalism Award

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

Excellence in Student Journalism Award

First: Samuel Nemir Olivares Bonilla for "Boston Groups Reach Out to LGBT Youth of Color"

Broadcast awards:

Excellence in Local Television Award

First: John-Carlos Estrada for "Bar Kicks Out Gay Couple for Dancing"

Excellence in Radio Award

First: Emma Jacobs for "One Gay, Binational Couple's Story — and Hopes — As Supreme Court Decision Nears"

The awards will be presented August 23 during the NLGJA Awards Reception at Breaking Barriers, the 2014 NLGJA National Convention and 10th Annual LGBT Media Summit. For more information on the convention, visit www.nlgja.org/2014/ .

About the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association

NLGJA is an organization of journalists, media professionals, educators and students working from within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of LGBT issues. NLGJA opposes all forms of workplace bias and provides professional development to its members. For more information, visit www.nlgja.org .