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.'

For LGBTQ travelers, Miami begins with Dan Rios.

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

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. 

Giving back has taken Michael Goodman a long way. 

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.”

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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

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. 

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.