The Atlanta Journal Constitution was nominated for this year’s GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Awards in the “Outstanding Newspaper Overall Coverage” category. Other nominees in the category include Denver Post, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and the Salt Lake Tribune.

Not to rain on GLAAD’s announcement, but I can’t comprehend with the AJC was nominated for such an honor when the news outlet failed to cover this year’s Atlanta Pride festival and has largely turned a blind-eye to the city’s LGBT community since moving its base to the northern suburbs.

GLAAD should honor mainstream outlets that actually cover LGBT events (especially one of the largest such events in the country) in a positive light.

The AJC’s failure to cover the 2010 Atlanta Pride festival left a sour taste in the mouths of many queer Atlantans, including James Parker Sheffield, Executive Director of the Atlanta Pride Committee.

Sheffield said in October on the lack of coverage: "The parade [on Sunday] is the largest on-street event in the city and the state. I'm absolutely shocked."

Not only is the Pride festival the largest gay gathering in the state, it’s one of the largest annual Pride events in the country. GLAAD should have pressed the AJC for a promise of future coverage of local gay events, not reward it.

Even one of the AJC’s reporters wrote in the comment section of a Creative Loafing article online last November that the festival didn’t merit coverage.

If that's not enough, Project Q Atlanta recently covered the AJC's use of the offensive term "transvestite" to describe a cross-dressed crime suspect. As Project Q notes, use of the term violates GLAAD's style guide for covering LGBT issues.

GLAAD’s recognition of the “outstanding” work being done by the AJC is a more than a little confusing. Media outlets that intentionally don’t cover the gay community shouldn’t be recognized for their excellent work covering gay issues.

We reached out to GLAAD on the nomination process, but we haven't heard from them as of yet. When we receive their response, we'll post it.

To view this year’s nominees (in all categories), please click here.