ABSTRACT
The universality requirement is one of the rules of engagement that supports and sustains 'diversity' under the terms and conditions of homonormativity. Black journalists who identify with marginalized groups in their market are expected to alienate, distance, and impersonalize their voice of difference or be held to suspicion. Gay and lesbian journalists also understand the constraints of heteronormative newsroom culture. Black LGBT journalists learn to walk a fine line between navigating racist newsroom practice and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell approach to newsroom diversity. A White television news journalist said that time constraints make her less objective. Black journalists resist strategies of containment that attempt to silence perspectives of difference. The unwritten rules of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' are used to silence sexuality within heteronormative newsroom culture. NLGJA consists mostly of White gay men with a low membership of women and journalists of color.
