Samantha Leigh Allen

Last updated
Samantha Leigh Allen
Born California, U.S.
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • author
NationalityAmerican
Education Brigham Young University
Rutgers University
Emory University (PhD)
Notable works Real Queer America (2019)
Notable awards GLAAD Media Award (2018)

Samantha Leigh Allen is an American journalist and author. Allen worked as a senior reporter for The Daily Beast and now works as Senior Culture Editor at Them. In 2019 she published the nonfiction book Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States .

Contents

Early life and education

Allen was born in California and grew up in New Jersey. [1] She was raised in a conservative, Mormon household. [2] [3] As a young adult she served as a Mormon missionary. [4] 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. [2] [5] She came out as a transgender woman in 2012. [6] [7]

She has a Ph.D. in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies with a certificate in Psychoanalytic Studies from Emory University. [8] [9] She was a recipient of a George W. Woodruff Fellowship while at Emory. [10] In 2013 she received the John Money Fellowship for Scholars of Sexology from the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University Bloomington. [11] In 2014 she was a recipient of the Unsung Heroine Award from the Center for Women at Emory as well as a Transgender Advocate of the Year Award from Emory's Office of LGBT Life. [12]

Career

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. [11] [13] She later became a Senior Culture Editor at Them. [14] She has written for The New York Times , Rolling Stone , Out , CNN, and Crosscut.com . [12] Allen has also written for LGBTQ media outlets including Them [15] and Logo TV's NewNowNext as a freelance writer. [16] She also writes a travel newsletter called Get Lost on Substack and co-hosts a podcast about the WNBA called Double W with Laurel Powell. [16]

In 2018 she received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism Article for her article on the cultural erasure of bisexual men. In 2019 she was nominated for a GLAAD Award her piece on non-binary inclusion in the workplace. [12] In 2018 Allen published Love & Estrogen with Amazon Original Stories, which is a biographical queer romantic comedy about meeting her wife at the Kinsey Institute. [12]

In 2019 she published the biography Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States , which won the Judy Turner Prize for Community Service at the Decatur Books Festival. [12] [17] Her book focuses on LGBTQ communities in Utah, Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi. [16] [18] [19] [20]

Allen's first novel, Patricia Wants to Cuddle, was published June 28, 2022 by Zando. It follows the final four contestants on a reality dating show as they encounter a creature named Patricia in the woods on a remote island. [21] [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ community</span> Community and culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people

The LGBTQ community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality. LGBTQ activists and sociologists see LGBTQ community-building as a counterweight to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexualism, and conformist pressures that exist in the larger society. The term pride or sometimes gay pride expresses the LGBTQ community's identity and collective strength; pride parades provide both a prime example of the use and a demonstration of the general meaning of the term. The LGBTQ community is diverse in political affiliation. Not all people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender consider themselves part of the LGBTQ community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human Rights Campaign</span> LGBTQ civil rights advocacy group

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGBTQ individuals, including advocating for same-sex marriage, anti-discrimination and hate crimes legislation, and HIV/AIDS advocacy. The organization has a number of legislative initiatives as well as supporting resources for LGBTQ individuals.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) characters have been depicted in video games since the 1980s. Throughout the history of video games, LGBTQ characters have been almost nonexistent for a long time, reflecting the overall heteronormativity of the medium. While there has been a trend towards greater representation of LGBTQ people in video games, they are frequently identified as LGBTQ in secondary material, such as comics, rather than in the games themselves. Often, LGBTQ characters and themes, when they are included, are underrepresented, minimized, or watered down. Queer games and characters have also often found themselves being the subjects of cultural crossfires or moral panics. In 2018, Sam Greer of GamesRadar+ found only 179 games commercially released games with any LGBTQ representation, only 83 of which have queer characters who are playable characters, and only 8 of those games feature a main character who is pre-written as queer as opposed to them being queer as an option.

LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson. LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. As of 2022, LGBT History Month is a month-long celebration that is specific to Australia, Canada, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gay icon</span> Public figure highly regarded and beloved by the LGBT community

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ representation in children's television</span> Aspect of childrens television

LGBT representation in children's television is representation of LGBT topics, themes, and people in television programming meant for children. LGBT representation in children's programming was often uncommon to non-existent for much of television's history up to the 2010s, but has significantly increased since then.

Historically, the portrayal of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in media has been largely negative if not altogether absent, reflecting a general cultural intolerance of LGBTQ individuals; however, from the 1990s to present day, there has been an increase in the positive depictions of LGBTQ people, issues, and concerns within mainstream media in North America. The LGBTQ communities have taken an increasingly proactive stand in defining their own culture, with a primary goal of achieving an affirmative visibility in mainstream media. The positive portrayal or increased presence of the LGBTQ communities in media has served to increase acceptance and support for LGBT communities, establish LGBTQ communities as a norm, and provide information on the topic.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer+(LGBTQ+)music is music that focuses on the experiences of gender and sexual minorities as a product of the broad gay liberation movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queerbaiting</span> In media, hinting at but not depicting queer relationships

Queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but do not depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ+ representation. The purpose of this method is to attract ("bait") a queer or straight ally audience with the suggestion or possibility of relationships or characters that appeal to them, while not alienating homophobic members of the audience or censors by actually portraying queer relationships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinkwashing (LGBTQ)</span> Promotional use of LGBTQ rights

Pinkwashing, also known as rainbow-washing, is the strategy of deploying messages that are superficially sympathetic towards the LGBTQ community for ends having little or nothing to do with LGBTQ equality or inclusion, including LGBT marketing.

Sisak (2017) is a short film, starring Jitin Gulati and Dhruv Singhal. It was written and directed by Faraz Arif Ansari and is billed as India's first silent queer love story. The trailer was launched by Sonam Kapoor on 30 January on Twitter. It has won 59 international awards at various film festivals.

<i>Rafiki</i> (film) 2018 Kenyan film

Rafiki is a 2018 Kenyan drama film directed by Wanuri Kahiu. Rafiki is the story of romance that grows between two young women, Kena and Ziki, amidst family and political pressures around LGBT rights in Kenya. The film had its international premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival; it was the first Kenyan film to be screened at the festival.

<i>Real Queer America</i> 2019 non-fiction book by Samantha Allen

Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States is a 2019 nonfiction book written by Samantha Allen. The book documents a road trip Allen took in the summer of 2017 through LGBT communities in conservative parts of the United States, focusing on Utah, Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia.

Netflix has contributed substantially to LGBTQ representation in animation. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual and transgender characters have appeared in various animated series, and some animated films, on the streaming platform. GLAAD described Netflix as a company taking "impressive strides in viewership and impact," when it came to LGBTQ representation. Scholars have stated that LGBTQ characters on streaming services, such as Netflix, "made more displays of affection" than on broadcast networks.

This article features the history of the representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) characters in animated productions under The Walt Disney Company, including films from the studios Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, and programming from the Disney Branded Television channels as well as the streaming service Disney+. From 1983 onward, Disney struggled with LGBTQ representation in their animated series, and their content often included LGBTQ stereotypes or the content was censored in series which aired on Toon Disney such as Blazing Dragons. Some creators have also criticized Disney studio executives of cutting LGBTQ scenes from their shows in the past, or criticized that their shows were not seen as part of the "Disney brand", like The Owl House.

References

  1. ↑ "Real Queer America author Samantha Allen on why Atlanta is the best city in the country for the LGBTQ community". Atlanta Magazine. 12 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  2. 1 2 "Samantha Allen- Real Queer America — Love Les". Loveles.co. Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  3. ↑ "Crowdfunding just bought Samantha Allen a vagina | the Daily Dot". The Daily Dot . Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  4. ↑ "The Seattle Public Library - Author Readings and Library Events: Samantha Allen discusses Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States on Apple Podcasts". Podcasts.apple.com. Retrieved 2020-02-28.[ dead link ]
  5. ↑ "Former BYU Student Samatha Allen Shares Stories of LGBTQ Americans in Conservative States". Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  6. ↑ "Samantha Allen: On Exploring LGBTQ Culture in America's Red States – Profiles in Pride". Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  7. ↑ Darling, Wendy (Fall 2018). "Seen & Heard". Emory Medicine Magazine. News.emory.edu. Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  8. ↑ "Samantha Allen". Mic.com. 1994-09-22. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  9. ↑ "Taking the Leap: A Conversation with Samantha Leigh Allen". Popqt.com. Retrieved 2020-02-28.[ permanent dead link ]
  10. ↑ "Samantha Allen - LA Times Festival of Books 2019". Latimesfestivalofbooks2019.sched.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  11. 1 2 "Samantha Allen | Fusion". Fusion.tv. Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Samantha Leigh Allen". Samantha Leigh Allen. Archived from the original on 2020-02-05. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  13. ↑ Samantha Allen@SLAwrites (14 August 2019). "Samantha Allen". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  14. ↑ "Samantha Allen". Them. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  15. ↑ "Samantha Allen Latest Articles". Them.us. Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  16. 1 2 3 Daniel Bogan (2019-12-26). "Uses This / Samantha Allen". Usesthis.com. Archived from the original on 2020-01-03. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  17. ↑ McIlvain, Ryan (2019-06-20). ""Progress Is Happening and It's Happening Everywhere": A Conversation with Samantha Allen – BLARB". Blog.lareviewofbooks.org. Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  18. ↑ "Writer finds LGBT support, inclusion in red states". Msnbc.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  19. ↑ "The journalist telling the complicated, hopeful truth about LGBTQ life in red states - Columbia Journalism Review". Cjr.org. Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  20. ↑ "Review: 'Real Queer America' shines light on LGBT folks living in red states - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 2020-02-18. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  21. ↑ PATRICIA WANTS TO CUDDLE | Kirkus Reviews. 2022-06-28.
  22. ↑ "Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
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