All of the stories presented on this site were part of an American University journalism course entitled Race/Ethnic & Community Reporting.

"This course has two primary goals," the course syllabus by Dr. Sherri Williams reads. "One is to equip students with the skills to become more ethical and inclusive journalists by learning techniques and strategies to cover marginalized communities. The other is to provide students with theories, concepts and terms that enhance their understanding of how power operates and how it's reflected in news."

With this is mind, I came up with the beat LGBTQ Businesses in Washington in order to highlight their impact on the surrounding community and hear from LGBTQ workers. While Washington is regarded as an accepting city and there are federal laws in place to protect queer workers, discrimination against LGBTQ workers is an issue far from solved. Throughout the semester I've written news stories, economic stories and policy pieces all through the lens of this beat. I was granted the opportunity to cover anti-LGBTQ policies, learn more about the levels of discrimination the community faces and highlight businesses working overtime to create safe spaces for queer employees.