Samantha Leigh Allen | |
|---|---|
| Born | California, U.S. |
| Occupation |
|
| Education | Brigham Young University Rutgers University Emory University (PhD) |
| Notable works | Real Queer America (2019) |
| Notable awards | GLAAD Media Award (2018) |
| Website | |
| samanthaleighallen.com | |
Samantha Leigh Allen is an American journalist and author. Allen worked as a reporter for The Daily Beast [1] and now works as the managing editor at Them. [2] In 2019, she published the nonfiction book Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States .
Allen was born in California and grew up in New Jersey. [3] She was raised in a conservative Mormon household. [4] [5] As a young adult she served as a Mormon missionary. [6] She officially left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2008 and transferred from Brigham Young University to Rutgers University later that year. [4] [7] She came out as a trans woman in 2012. [8] [9]
She has a Ph.D. in women's, gender, and sexuality studies with a certificate in psychoanalytic studies from Emory University. [10] [11] She was a recipient of a George W. Woodruff Fellowship while at Emory. [12] In 2013, she received the John Money Fellowship for Scholars of Sexology from the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University Bloomington. [13] In 2014, she was a recipient of the Unsung Heroine Award from the Center for Women at Emory [14] as well as a Transgender Advocate of the Year Award from Emory's Office of LGBT Life. [15]
Allen covered LGBTQ stories as a senior reporter for The Daily Beast and worked as a staff writer for Fusion TV's Sex + Life vertical. [13] [1] She later became the managing editor at Them. [2] She has written for The New York Times , [2] Rolling Stone , [2] Out , [16] CNN, [2] and Crosscut.com . [17] Allen has also written for LGBTQ media outlets including Them [2] and Logo TV's NewNowNext as a freelance writer. [18] She also writes a travel newsletter called Get Lost and co-hosts a podcast about the WNBA called Double W with Laurel Powell. [18]
In 2018, she received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism Article for her article on the cultural erasure of bisexual men. [19] In 2018, Allen published Love & Estrogen with Amazon Original Stories, which is a biographical romantic comedy about meeting her wife at the Kinsey Institute. [20] In 2019, she was nominated for a GLAAD Award her piece on non-binary inclusion in the workplace. [21]
In 2019 she published the memoir Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States , which won the Judy Turner Prize for Community Service at the Decatur Books Festival. [22] [23] Her book focuses on LGBTQ communities in Utah, Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi. [18] [24] [25] [26]
Allen's first novel, Patricia Wants to Cuddle, was published June 28, 2022 by Zando. [27] It follows the final four contestants on a reality dating game show as they encounter a creature in the woods on a remote island. [27] [28] Her next novel, Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet, was also published by Zando on September 10, 2024. The novel revolves around a ghostwriter who is appointed by a closeted actor to write his memoir, only to discover that said actor is dead by the time they are scheduled to meet. [29]