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.”

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. 

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.

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. 

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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. 

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.

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. 

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

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.

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.