Tom Avila is a contributing writer to Metro Weekly news magazine.

I spent my Saturday in the capital of "The Hoosier Stater," Indianapolis, Ind.
While Indianapolis is a beautiful city worth a visit on its own merits, this was a working trip to lead a panel called “When the Story Hits Home” at SPJ’s national convention.
The question we were trying to answer?
Can lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) journalists cover issues like marriage, adoption legislation, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” hate crimes, or state legislation which could be viewed as restrictive with the same fairness and accuracy as their straight counterparts?
The overwhelming answer received? Yes.
One panelist even referred to the question as somewhat insulting.
Well, there you have it. It’s a wrap…though there’s probably a few hundred pages packed up in that “yes.” For now, I’ll keep it down to a few hundred words.
The “why” behind the question stems from an issue most other minorities don’t have to address. In fact, it’s an issue some see as a means for demonstrating the divide between LGBT people and other minority populations.
I can sum it up in one familiar phrase. “When I walk out of the house everyone knows I’m [Black, Latino, Asian, Native American, etc.], no one has to know you’re gay.”
To some the very act of being an openly gay person in the professional sphere will always be seen as a political action. And that includes LGBT as well as straight people.
This creates a unique bind for LGBT journalists, particularly when we think about this idea of LGBT journalists covering issues or actions of specific interest to the LGBT community.
Developing a universally acceptable solution or response to being out in the professional world of journalism – whether you see it as an act of bravery, political action or just a regular Tuesday at the office – would require something more than the few hundred words I mentioned. To start I’m thinking I would need a secret island lair, some sort of mind altering device and a standard issue magic wand.
As my island lair was not approved for stimulus funding I’ll instead offer a few questions to consider.
And when I say consider I mean some questions for you to actually spend some serious time with. Maybe one or two of them could stand in for that book-on-tape that joins you on your commute.
What do you think? In all honesty and in the safety of your own head or Volvo, what do you really think?

• Is being “out” in the newsroom a political act? Consider the full range – from advocating for stories to putting photos of a same sex-partner or spouse on a desk to answering truthfully when someone asks, “What did you do this weekend?”
• When working on stories that involve the LGBT community do you apply the same methods and processes as you do when covering other minority populations? Do your sources come from the same kinds of places? Do you have the same notions or ideas about community and neighborhoods when the time comes to pick up the phone or put down some shoe leather?
• If you had the authority to make the decision and you had two equally qualified journalists – one gay/one straight – and one LGBT-focused story to cover, would the reporter’s sexual orientation play a role in your decision regarding who gets the assignment?
• And finally, what exactly does “Hoosier” mean?

Yes, journalists who are members of the LGBT community can absolutely cover issues of particular concern or which uniquely impact the LGBT community in the exact same fashion as their straight peers and colleagues.
But maybe the answers to the questions we’re not asking are where the more important information rests. Maybe we need a rewrite to get at what it is we’re really asking.
Why do we wonder if LGBT journalists and other minority journalists can cover the communities to which they belong with the same fairness and accuracy as their colleagues?
Why don’t we raise a similar question about government reporters who live in the states whose legislation they cover? Or about education reporters who have children? (After all, when they leave the house I probably don’t know if they have children or not – unless they have a Cheerio stuck to their shirt or a “World’s Greatest” mug.)
Or, to match apples to apples, white male reporters who cover white male city council members?
It’s very easy to make the personal political. Sometimes though, it’s much harder to determine whose politics are being discussed.

The thoughts and opinions in this essay are Tom Avila’s and do not belong to his employer or, to the best of his knowledge, any online retailer. He has no plans of deleting them from your computer.