OutSFL has named May Diamond Rojas as the second recipient of the Melissa St. John College Student Scholarship, an annual award honoring the legacy of beloved South Florida drag entertainer and LGBTQ advocate Melissa St. John.
The $1,000 scholarship supports LGBTQ-identifying undergraduate and graduate students in Florida who demonstrate strong commitments to community service, leadership, and advocacy.
Rojas, a Boynton Beach resident and graduating student at Florida Atlantic University, will receive the scholarship as she completes her bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in Japanese on May 9. She plans to pursue an MBA and eventually attend law school while working toward becoming a certified public accountant.
“It’s an honor to receive it,” Rojas said. “This opportunity is deeply, deeply appreciated.”
Rojas became heavily involved in student leadership and political organizing after Florida passed legislation in 2023 restricting access to gender-affirming healthcare, inadvertently affecting Rojas, who is intersex.
“I couldn’t really sit by and do nothing,” she said.
She joined student government at FAU and later helped launch the Sunshine Party, a student political organization focused on inclusion and representation on campus, after defending an LGBTQ+ student who was discriminated against.
Rojas has also been active with the FAU College Democrats, which received recognition at both the university and statewide levels during her involvement.
In addition to her academic and advocacy work, Rojas works as an intern in the grants department for the City of Deerfield Beach. She is also multilingual, speaking English, French, and Japanese, and previously worked as a contract Japanese translator. Rojas studied abroad in Japan and attended G-Star School of the Arts, where she developed interests in photography, sewing, and design.
The Melissa St. John College Student Scholarship was launched by OutSFL to invest in the next generation of LGBTQ leaders while honoring St. John’s decades of advocacy and service to South Florida’s LGBTQ community.
“Melissa gave so much of herself to this community,” said Jason Parsley, publisher of OutSFL. “This scholarship keeps that spirit alive by investing in the next generation of changemakers.”
The scholarship’s first recipient was Ky Walker, a graduate student in social work at Florida Atlantic University and community advocate through Compass Community Center. Walker was recognized for his work connecting LGBTQ individuals to healthcare, housing, HIV prevention resources, transportation, and trans care services throughout Palm Beach County.
Funding for the scholarship is raised in part through the annual Mizz OutSFL Pageant, which celebrates drag artistry, philanthropy, and LGBTQ community leadership across South Florida.
OutSFL is South Florida’s LGBTQ news source, dedicated to covering the community through journalism, storytelling, arts, politics, culture, and advocacy.
