LGBTQ+ newspaper secures seat in White House briefing room for first time

The Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ newspaper, has secured an officially designated seat in the White House James S. Brady briefing room, marking the first time an LGBTQ publication has been given the honor.

The White House Correspondents Association, which is responsible for the seating assignment in the briefing room, made the announcement Friday as part of the updated seating chart, which will take effect on Jan. 3. Chris Johnson, White House reporter for the Blade, will be responsible for filling the seat for the LGBTQ news outlet.

Steven Portnoy, WHCA president and White House reporter for C-SPAN Radio, said in a memo, that changes were made “to enhance diversity in the briefing room,” including seat designations for “organizations that target Black, Hispanic and LGBTQ audience” as well as publications “across the ideological spectrum.”

The Blade is set to share a seat with the Boston Globe. The two publications have made an arrangement to rotate a presence in the seat on a weekly basis. The seating assignment marks the latest development in the Blade’s reporting on the White House and integration in the White House press corps.

“Thank you to the Correspondents Association for this designation,” said Blade editor Kevin Naff. “This was decades in the making and a credit to the hard work of Chris Johnson and Lou Chibbaro Jr. before him. This will enable us to devote more focus to national political news impacting the LGBTQ community.”