Victoria Brownworth | |
---|---|
Born | 1960 |
Alma mater | Temple University |
Known for | journalist, writer, and editor |
Victoria A. Brownworth (born February 1959 or 1960)[1][2] is an American journalist, writer, and editor. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, she wrote numerous award-winning articles about AIDS in women, children, and people of color.[3] She was the first person in the United States to write a column about lesbianism in a daily newspaper and host a lesbian radio show.[3]
In 1983, Brownworth reported on the "corruption at a Philadelphia based social service agency."[3] She has also won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery for her 2016 novel Ordinary Mayhem.[4][5]
Brownworth uses "she" and "they" pronouns.[6]
In her early-to-mid-thirties, Brownworth started experiencing a number of symptoms she chalked up to being overworked (e.g., general malaise and difficulty walking).[7] In one 18-month period, she broke 13 bones due to her symptoms, though she still believed nothing was seriously wrong.[7] However, when she went blind due to optic neuritis, she visited a doctor who diagnosed her with primary progressive multiple sclerosis, a diagnosis she resisted for over a year.[7] In 1994, she began to use a wheelchair, which she has used on and off since.[1]
Brownworth has also had breast cancer, has a damaged heart, and "a spot on [her] lung."[1]
Brownworth lives in Philadelphia. She and her partner, Maddy Gold,[8] met while attending the Philadelphia High School for Girls and dated off and on for years.[9] Brownworth and Gold had been living together for many years when in 2014 Pennsylvania deemed the ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional, and Brownworth immediately proposed.[9] They were married in October of that year on their 15-year anniversary.[9] Gold died of cancer on Nov. 12, 2022.[10]
Brownworth published her first book of poetry at age 18[11] and began writing for Philadelphia Gay News when she was 17.[12]
Brownworth studied American studies and women's history at the Temple University and represented the university at the first National Women's Studies Association.[13] Near graduation, she became the star witness "in the first federal police brutality trial in Philadelphia." The police were acquitted, and she began her career in advocacy journalism.[14]
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Brownworth worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News.[3] She was the first open lesbian to have a daily column,[15] and may have been the first to have a daily column about lesbian issues.[3] Later, she became the first person to host a lesbian radio program in the United States, Amazon Country on WXPN-FM.[3]
In 1993, after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Brownworth began focusing primarily on writing books and editing anthologies.[3]
She has also been a contributing editor for Curve[16] and Lambda Literary Review and has been a regular contributing writer for SheWired, Advocate,[17] The Independent, and HuffPost.
In 2010, Brownworth co-founded Tiny Satchel Press, a publishing company that printed young adult books featuring characters from systemically marginalized populations.
Brownworth has won the Society of Professional Journalism Award[18] and the NLGJA Award.[16]
Since 1981, Brownworth has campaigned for her view that trans women are not real women and should be barred from awards and participation in programs for women.[19]
Year | Title | Award/Honor | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1980s | Gay & Lesbian Press Association's Award for Ongoing Coverage of Non-Medical Issues | [20] | ||
Gay & Lesbian Press Association's Award for Ongoing Coverage Health Coverage | [20] | |||
Gay & Lesbian Press Association's Award for National News Reporting | [20] | |||
1997 | Night Bites | Lambda Literary Award for Nonfiction Anthology | Finalist | [21] |
2000 | Night Shade: Gothic Tales by Women | Lambda Literary Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy | Finalist | [22] |
2001 | Coming Out of Cancer | Lambda Literary Award for Nonfiction Anthology | Finalist | [23] |
2007 | "Our Dirtiest Secret: Domestic Violence in Our Community" | Suburban Newspaper Association's Award for Investigative Reporting | Winner | [20] |
2008 | The Golden Age of Lesbian Erotica | Lambda Literary Award for Erotica | Finalist | [24] |
"Killing Ourselves with Hate: Suicide in the GLBT Community" | NLGJA Excellence in News Writing Award | Second | [25] | |
2009 | "Hiding in Plain Sight" | Society of Professional Journalists's Award for Enterprise Story | Winner | [20] |
2011 | Day of the Dead | American Library Association's Over the Rainbow Project | Selection | [26] |
2012 | From Where We Sit | Moonbeam Award for Young Adult Fiction - Historical/Cultural | Silver | [27] |
2014 | "Trans Sex Workers" | Keystone Press Award for Series | Second | [20] |
Society of Professional Journalists's Award for Enterprise Reporting | Winner | [20] | ||
2016 | Ordinary Mayhem | Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Mystery | Winner | [4][5] |
2020 | "COVID and the LGBTQ community" | Sigma Delta Chi Award for Newspaper Feature Reporting in a Non-Daily Publication | Winner | [18] |