The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association has awarded its Kay Longcope Scholarship to CUNY Graduate School of Journalism student Carl Gaines from the Class of 2010.

The scholarship is in honor of a journalist who co-founded the LGBT newsweekly, The Texas Triangle in her homestate of Texas, and was generally regarded as the first openly gay reporter at the The Boston Globe. The Kay Longcope Scholarship Award was established in 2008 through a gift from Longcope’s estate and with the guidance of her partner, Barbara Wohlgemuth.

The scholarship provides as much as $5,000 in tuition funding over the 2010-2011 academic year. The honor also includes a one-year NLGJA student membership and a reserved internship placement within the NLGJA Student Project held at the annual convention and LGBT media summit taking place in San Francisco September 2-5. In addition, Gaines will work with a designated journalist mentor to complete a project designed to further the mission of NLGJA.

The scholarship will be announced at the NLGJA’s 15th annual Headlines & Headliners Benefit in New York City taking place March 25.