Lesbian visibility in media gets a boost with new awards

A new award established by pioneering lesbian magazine Curve aims to recognize and reward lesbian journalists who cover queer women’s issues.

NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists and The Curve Foundation have announced the recipients of the inaugural Curve Award for Excellence in Lesbian Coverage.

The Curve Award for Excellence in Lesbian Coverage includes a $2,500 cash award and access to unique professional development opportunities. The awardees will be honored with a digital exhibit at curvemag.com, archiving major moments and career accomplishments, that will remain freely available throughout the year.

The recipients for 2023 are Victoria A. Brownworth, who is a longtime contributor and former senior politics editor for Curve. Brownworth has also contributed numerous articles on politics and queer women for Queer Forty.

Brownworth is joined by fellow recipients Dana Piccoli and Femi Redwood. The award, sponsored by the Curve Foundation, honors the contributions of LGBTQ women-identified journalists that have dedicated their careers to telling the stories of the Curve community. The award and its criteria are inspired by journalists who have dedicated themselves to covering lesbian social justice issues and communities.

“We extend our warmest congratulations to the winners of the Curve Award for Excellence in Lesbian Coverage. Their dedication to amplifying the voices and experiences of the Curve community is truly remarkable. As recipients of this award, they have shown tremendous potential in shaping the future of journalism, and we look forward to seeing their continued impact in the industry,” said NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists Executive Director Adam K. Pawlus.

The Curve Award for Excellence in Lesbian Coverage will be presented annually and nominations for the 2024 award will become available next Spring. 

For more information about the award, visit thecurvefoundation.org/programs/.

About the winners

Victoria A. Brownworth is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated, award-winning journalist. She has won the Society of Professional Journalists Award several times, most recently in 2022 for feature reporting, as well as the Keystone Journalism Award, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists Excellence in Journalism Award, Lambda Literary and IPPY Independent Press Award. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore Sun, DAME, Ms., The Nation, Village Voice, SPIN, POZ, The Advocate, Bay Area Reporter, OUT, Lambda Literary and Curve among other publications. She is a columnist for the Bay Area Reporter, Philadelphia Gay News and an opinion writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her work focuses on social justice issues and local and national politics. She has most recently won several journalism awards for her coverage of the COVID pandemic and for her three-part series on lesbian, bisexual and transgender women in prison.   

Brownworth was among the OUT 100 and is the author and editor of more than 20 books, including the Lambda Award-winning Coming Out of Cancer: Writings from the Lesbian Cancer Epidemic and Ordinary Mayhem: A Novel, and the award-winning From Where They Sit: Black Writers Write Black Youth and Too Queer: Essays from a Radical Life. In 2010 she co-founded the independent publisher Tiny Satchel Press with her late wife, Maddy Gold. She taught writing and journalism at the University of the Arts and Community College of Philadelphia for many years. She lives and works in Philadelphia.

Dana Piccoli has been writing about the LGBTQ+ community for over a decade and is now the editor of News is Out, a queer media collaborative. With a special dedication to queer women’s issues, Piccoli has written for numerous sites, including The Mary Sue, The Decider, Curve, and NBC. She’s the former Managing Editor of the Bella Media Channel and the founder of Queer Media Matters. Piccoli is also known for her interviewing skills and has hosted panels and events yearly at ClexaCon. She has also moderated panels with NYCC, Outfest and more. Piccoli was named one of The Advocate Magazine’s 2019 Champions of Pride and Curve Magazine’s 2017 Pridelist. She lives in Vancouver, Washington, with her wife. 

Femi Redwood is an award-winning journalist who is not afraid to ask tough questions or have uncomfortable conversations that lead to teachable moments. Most recently, Redwood was a host and managing producer of podcasts at Audacy’s NYC news stations, 1010 WINS and WCBS Newsradio 880. In this position she launched several successful shows, including Beyond Black History Month, a weekly narrative podcast that celebrated Black culture while amplifying issues important to marginalized communities, which she also hosted. Prior to transitioning into podcasting, Redwood spent over a decade in TV news, including working as a correspondent in prominent newsrooms such as CBS Newspath and VICE News.

Redwood is the co-chair of the National Association of Black Journalists’ LGBTQ+ Task Force. In this role she launched two new scholarships to help Black LGBTQ+ college students. She is also a board member of NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists. In this position she teaches journalists how to cover the LGBTQ+ community, which in turn helps readers and listeners trust journalists with their stories. Redwood lives in Brooklyn with her wife and cat. 

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.

About The Curve Foundation

Built on 30 years of Curve, the world’s best-selling lesbian magazine, The Curve Foundation works to empower and amplify the voices of the Curve Community – lesbians, queer women, trans women, and non-binary people of all races, ages, and abilities. The Curve Foundation’s initial programs include: the Curve Award for Emerging Journalists, created to recognize emerging journalists and raise the visibility of LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people; and the Curve Archive, a permanent and searchable archive of 30 years of magazine issues.

For more information, visit thecurvefoundation.org.