For non-member event reservations: please email pfitzgerald@democraticwoman.org or telephone 202-232-7363 Ext. 402 (voicemails will also be accepted).

Join us for an inspiring celebration of Nicholas Benton and Lou Chibbaro Jr., two trailblazing LGBTQ+ journalists who have spent decades reporting on the front lines of social, cultural, legal, and political change in America. From covering the challenges and triumphs of LGBTQ+ communities to chronicling major milestones in the fight for civil rights, Benton and Chibbaro have shaped the conversation and amplified voices that matter.

EVENT DETAILS:

• Remarks and Q&A, in-person and via Zoom.

• 6 p.m. complimentary hors d'oeuvres and cash bar; 6:30–7:30 p.m. program followed by book signing.

• Zoom only: $10. In-person: members: $20, nonmembers: $30 plus tax.

Benton’s latest book, "Please Don't Eat Your Children, Cult Century, and Other Essays," will be available for purchase at the event.

Nicholas F. Benton is a longtime local journalist and pioneering LGBTQ+ rights activist whose work has had lasting impact on both community journalism and social justice. He is best known as the founder, owner, and editor of the Falls Church News-Press, an independent weekly newspaper he launched in 1991 that has become the paper of record for the City of Falls Church, Virginia. Through more than 1,600 consecutive weekly editions, Benton has championed hyperlocal reporting, civic transparency, and citizen engagement.

Benton’s activism began in 1960s Berkeley, California, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree and became an early leader in the gay liberation movement. He co-founded the Berkeley Gay Liberation Front, wrote the first editorial for Gay Sunshine, and contributed to feminist and LGBTQ+ publications. He is also the author of several books examining the cultural and historical role of LGBTQ+ communities.

Guided by the principle that journalists serve “the readers and the truth,” Benton has consistently advocated for equality, public education, and inclusion. His work has earned numerous honors, including “Hero of Pride” and “OUTstanding Virginian.”

Lou Chibbaro Jr. is a senior news reporter for the Washington Blade and a pioneering journalist in LGBT news coverage. He has reported on the LGBT rights movement and community continuously since 1976, first as a freelance writer and later as a staff reporter, joining the Blade in 1984. Over nearly five decades, Chibbaro has chronicled LGBT-related developments across major institutions, including the White House, Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, the military, law enforcement agencies, and religious organizations.

Chibbaro has covered LGBT participation in U.S. presidential elections and has reported as a credentialed journalist at Democratic and Republican national conventions since 1984. He began reporting on the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s and has documented the work of local, national, and international AIDS organizations. His crime and public safety reporting includes coverage of high-profile cases, including the 1999 Matthew Shepard hate crime trial.

Chibbaro’s work has earned numerous honors, including induction into the Society of Professional Journalists’ Washington, D.C. Hall of Fame in 2011 and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Hall of Fame in 2015.

*Please note: Guests, with the exception of members’ spouses and domestic partners, may attend a maximum of three paid events from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. After the third event, they must join the Club to continue attending events.*