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.

Robert Cole is a native Floridian that serves as the Executive Director for Our Sister’s Place, a thrift store that supports victims of domestic violence.

Husbands John Mather and Ryan Maloney are the founders of North Beach LGBTQ+ & Friends, a social group serving the LGBTQ community of North Beach and Galt in Fort Lauderdale. 

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.” 

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.”

It’s never easy to narrow down the many incredible individuals in our LGBTQ community to just one list — but we’ve done our best.

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.

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.

Giving back has taken Michael Goodman a long way. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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.'

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.

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.

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.

Bree-Anna Obst is the managing director at Thinking Cap Theatre, a nonprofit professional theater company focused on insightful and socially aware productions.

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.

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.

Ryan Thompson came to West Palm Beach from his native Atlanta five years ago. For Thompson, choosing to go home-based in 2018 meant being able to live almost anywhere, and it was apparent from his early life that Thomson valued authenticity, involvement, and diversity as keys to life. 

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.”

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

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. 

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.

In almost two years serving as the Community Outreach Coordinator at Holy Cross Health, within the Community Health and Well-Being Department, Von Biggs has accomplished so much for the LGBTQ community.

For LGBTQ travelers, Miami begins with Dan Rios.

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.

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

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

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. 

If you see him, you can’t miss him. With his signature beard and on-point jewelry game, Marc Martorana is very recognizable - and he gets recognized everywhere.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kal Gajraj is a firm believer that diversity makes us stronger. 

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

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.