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.”

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

For LGBTQ travelers, Miami begins with Dan Rios.

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

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

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.

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.

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.”

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

A quick glance at Doug Evans’ résumé reveals a man for all seasons.

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

Giving back has taken Michael Goodman a long way. 

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

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.” 

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.

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

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

For trans activist Liam Lipham, holding space for someone to be their whole self is more than an occupation, it's a duty. Growing up in small town Missouri, Lipham found little room to explore his identity without scrutiny, only to join the Navy’s “SeaBees” Construction Battalion right out of high school during the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” era. 

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.