For LGBTQ travelers, Miami begins with Dan Rios.

Donna Weinberger is the founder of Transpire Help, a nonprofit focused on substance abuse recovery for members of the LGBTQ+ community. They are also the CEO of Inspire Recovery, an LGBTQ-affirming addiction rehabilitation center, as well as the CEO of Pride Detox, an LGBTQ-affirming detox and rehabilitation center. They also recently opened an LGBTQ-affirming detox and rehabilitation center in Homestead called Q Space Detox.

She’ll sing, hold space for you, make you laugh, and just when you thought she was done, she’ll flip drag on its head for her own amusement and yours. 

Jason R. Hughes is the executive director of ArtServe. For more than half of his life, he’s been at the cutting edge of LGBTQ art and media. Prior to living in South Florida, Hughes was the first director of marketing and sales for Pride Vision TV, now known as Out TV in Toronto. 

After working 25 years as a nurse in the trauma intensive care unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Douglas Houghton embarked on a new and exciting adventure as the organization’s first Director of Advanced Practice.

Alison Burgos and Michelle Alexis Gaber are not a lesbian power couple. They are a hands down power couple in the truest sense of the phrase, no qualifiers needed. Their impact on South Florida’s LGBTQ community, and especially the lesbian community, is immeasurable.

Avion Goordeen serves as the Outreach Director at PRISM, a nonprofit focused on education and sexual health resources for LGBTQ+ youth in South Florida. He’s a first-generation immigrant, identifies as bisexual, and has been involved with nonprofits since 2018.

In tough times, tough people rise to meet the occasion. That was the case for Karen Kelley. “I decided rather than screaming at the TV, I'd get involved.”

Stephen Tendrich is a Native Floridian born into a deaf family. He is now a Broker Associate with Atlantic Properties International.

She’s not just the talent, she’s the boss, and Ms. Halliwell doesn’t wait for an opportunity to come to her. “I'm not going to sit around and wait for anybody to throw me a bone! You know, a lot of people just sit and wait for work. I will create it.”

Miami is back for the LGBTQ community, and much of that is due to the work of Edward Summers. He’s nearing the end of his first year as executive director of Pridelines. Over the past few years, its influence and impact were contracting. Since taking the reins, he’s moved the group back into the city and rallied support.

Stephen Kitsakos found his artistic home in Key West at The Studios of Key West, which he noted is the largest interdisciplinary arts organization in the Florida Keys.

Don D’Arminio’s love of Wilton Manors is as big as his shoulders are broad. That’s a good thing because he carries many of the city’s issues on his back.

Maddox Max hails from Los Angeles and made his way to South Florida looking for a change of scenery after his divorce, “I just decided I would come out here. I was visiting [my best friend] often, and I loved South Florida. I would always end up extending my trips.” 

Her smile makes others smile. Her skills make others better. Michelle Santos is a Senior Youth Therapist at SunServe, a job that allows her to connect with members of the community in a one-on-one setting.

Before he became SunServe’s Vice President of Programs, Alex Spriggs' career took him from Australia to Japan and, finally, South Florida. 

Gen-Z and Gen Alpha LGBTQ are under attack. They’re not only bullied in schools, they’re being bullied by the government. Safe Schools South Florida’s Tom Lander is working to put a stop to it.

Legacy is more than a word to LaTonya Hopson. It is a vision, a mission, and an imperative. Not for herself, but for her community. She founded a nonprofit, The Legacy Project, with the goal of building bridges in BIPOC and LGBTQ communities as change agents through arts and culture to provide holistic care.

Maxx Fenning has accomplished much beyond his years - he recently graduated with his bachelor’s in business administration from University of Florida while also leading PRISM, a nonprofit focused on sexual education for LGBTQ+ youth in South Florida. 

Meet Ground Zero, a transgender male and Latinx variety entertainer Palm Beach County. He has built an impressive reputation for being known as "The Cosplay King" due to his standout performances and stellar costumes.

He’s a leather daddy and a cake daddy and he’s quickly becoming the godfather of Wilton Manors. Chuck King is a leather legend and more, taking his community involvement to the next level.

Maxine Lemarr has been a professional musician, entertainer, and singer for 50 years. She is now retired and serves as the Music Director for Lesbian Thespians, a performing arts group founded and led by women.

Jenn Stefanacci Portier likes to make things happen. That’s how 22&Co. came into existence when Portier, clad in a tutu, hopped into her mom’s golf cart to deliver birthday greetings around Key West.

Terry Dyer has lived in South Florida for five years and supported institutions like CAN Community Health, SunServe, and the World AIDS Museum, among others.

Steven Butterman understands the LGBTQ community on an academic level. He is a tenured professor at University of Miami who works in gender and cultural studies, immigration, the queer diaspora and queer theory.

Ryan Young, a life-long New Yorker, wanted to get out of the cold.

Alexis Fernández is a self-described "entertainer and comedian in entertainment." Fernández is a drag veteran with 25 years of experience as a performer. Fernández is best known as his alter ego, Marytrini el Huracan, whom locals call 'the empress of transformism.'

Justin Jones is a problem solver. He's also the President of the Rapha Center of Miami. In the Bible, the Hebrew word Rapha translates as healing. 

Q-Mitch Jones is a true showman who loves bingo and has a big heart.

Kim Blandon has an extensive history in community organizing and activism that goes back to their childhood growing up in Hialeah. They are Two-Spirit and pansexual.

As the Director of Marketing and Sponsorship for the Gay Men's Chorus of South Florida (GMCSF), Edward Otto Zielke combines his life's passions of marketing and music. A New Jersey native, Zielke spent his formative years performing in theater productions, national tours, and summer stock. He majored in musical theater at New Jersey City University.

Ximena Dipietro is a 23-year-old senior at Florida Atlantic University studying history with a minor in peace, justice and human rights. She is a transgender woman, Mexican American, and also identifies herself as a Christian pacifist.Dipietro was raised Baptist and converted to Quakerism a couple of years ago.

Lali Safavi saw a gap in South Florida’s queer media scene and filled it with a new publication known as SkirtSoFLo that is focused on arts and culture for LGBTQ women. She is from DC and was inspired by their community publications such as the Washington Blade. Another inspiration was Curve Magazine, a lesbian publication founded in 1990.

David Jobin is the President and CEO of the Our Fund Foundation. The organization creates positive community change and addresses urgent issues facing the LGBTQ+ communities.

In “Fallen Fruit,” filmmaker Chris Molina presents a relatable story of starting over again. 

Giving back has taken Michael Goodman a long way. 

Caridad Moro-Gronlier was one of OutSFL’s six queer poets featured for National Poetry Month in April. A Cuban-American, her poetry collection "Tortillera" embraces and reclaims the word "tortillera," a term for lesbian in Spanish often regarded as a slur in some Cuban-American homes. Moro-Gronlier moved from Los Angeles to Miami at 9 years old.

Diane Pappafotis is the Women with Pride coordinator for The Pride Center at Equality Park in Wilton Manors. Women with Pride is a program at the center that creates spaces for a queer women’s community. Pappafotis is also the marketing director for SkirtSoFlo, a local publication focused on LGBTQ+ women.