Maya Rupert ’96 has won a 2010 Excellence in Journalism Award from the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA). She was honored for her L.A. Watts Times column “I Believe in America,” available here, on repealing the military’s Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy. Founded in 1990, NLGJA consists of journalists, media professionals, educators, and students working from within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of LGBT issues. Earlier this year, Rupert left the Los Angeles office of Sidley Austin in Los Angeles to become a federal policy attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights in Washington, D.C.