The old idiom “it reads like a who’s who” can easily be applied to this year’s list of honorees for Take PRIDE! 2026.

The annual event kicks off Pride month with a party at The Galleria mall in east Fort Lauderdale, which despite new ownership, is still stepping up as an ally.  

“Galleria Fort Lauderdale is a proud supporter of our community and the immeasurable contributions of this year’s ‘Take Pride!’ honorees,” said Tatiana Juarez, the mall’s regional marketing director.  

The party, presented by History Fort Lauderdale, will be 6 p.m. May 28 and hosted by 2025 recipient FayWhat?!. 

This year’s exhibit is titled “Coming Out of the Shadows” and will feature photos and items that viscerally bring to life Fort Lauderdale’s oft-unfriendly political climate before the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City’s Greenwich Village.

While this is always an important event on the Pride calendar, this year is extra special for the Out South Florida team. First, the celebration will double as OutSFL’s gala celebrating our new Mizz OutSFL. Angie Ovahness Pryce will make her first stage appearance since winning the title May 4. 

Additionally, one of our founders is among the honorees. Publisher Jason Parsley, who began OutSFL along with CEO Justin Wyse, also edited our progenitor, South Florida Gay News (SFGN). Parsley has spent the vast majority of his career in queer-centric journalism. 

“I actually started with a subsidiary of the Sun Sentinel covering local communities around Palm Beach County. But even back in college, when my newspaper adviser asked me what I wanted to do professionally, I told him I wanted to be a gay journalist,” he said. “Three years into my professional career, he sent me a job posting for managing editor of South Florida Gay News. The rest is history. Not many people get their dream job at 34, so I consider myself especially blessed.” 

The ride has had its ups and downs. SFGN founder Norm Kent, who died at 73 in 2023, left the paper to Parsley and Wyse, but the business was a post-pandemic financial mess.  

“So we pivoted and decided to create our own newspaper,” Parsley recalls. “What’s wild is how quickly it all happened. Norm died on April 13. We launched the new publication on June 1 of that same year. That’s less than 50 days to conceive of and launch an entirely new publication. And realistically, it was even less time than that since we didn’t make the decision on day one. It was exhausting, chaotic, emotional. And, somehow, it worked.” 

Parsley, a one-time hairstylist still known for his perfectly coiffed bouffant, says being the gay publisher of an LGBTQ-community paper is his most difficult challenge.  

“Being part of the same community that we serve and cover can sometimes create ethical and emotional challenges. Covering uncomfortable stories can strain personal and professional relationships that I’ve spent years building. Journalism sometimes means sitting with painful truths and telling them honestly anyway.” 

“Dread.” That’s what Parsley says he felt upon learning he’s a Take PRIDE! 2026 honoree. “I’m very conditioned as a journalist to make sure that I’m not part of the story. Obviously, it’s an honor to be recognized, but I’m much more comfortable being the one telling stories rather than being the story.” 

But this year’s theme, Coming Out of the Shadows, seems like a perfect time to recognize Parsley. “Visibility is ultimately the key to our success as a community. The more we hide and the more we run, the more we lose.” 

OutSFL is not inherently a political paper. It is unabashedly pro-equal rights, especially LGBTQ rights. Whomever is “them” in us-vs.-them, Parsley says OutSFL will never back down. 

“Our opponents want us to feel shame. It’s incredibly important that we don’t give them that satisfaction. We have to remain out and proud.”  

Parsley, 48, believes we owe it to the LGBTQ people who came before us, both the defiant and the closeted, to continue their legacy. “Sometimes that may feel difficult or uncomfortable, but I think about the LGBTQ people in the ’70s and ’80s who risked everything just to live openly.” 

His path to openness and visibility was long and hard.  

“Like many LGBTQ people, I understand the weight of living in silence and isolation. When I was 18, I intentionally hurt myself and ended up in a psychiatric ward. In the months that followed, that experience ultimately led me toward finding myself. One of the first places I turned to was Compass LGBTQ+ Community Center where, for the first time, I met other people like me. I found my community.” 

That experience from many years ago still drives him today.  

“That’s why I believe visibility matters so deeply. Queer journalism isn’t just about headlines or politics — sometimes it’s about helping someone realize there’s a place for them in the world.” 

Parsley is in good company. This year’s other honorees are Chris Caputo, commissioner and vice mayor of the City of Wilton Manors; Dennis Dean, executive director of ArtsUnited; Robert Griffin and Durell Watkins, the bishops of Sunshine Cathedral; Ronnie Larsen, actor, director, playwright, and producer; Rafaelé Narváez, co-founder and director of health programs for Latinos Salud; Fort Lauderdale Police Chief William C. Schultz; Nicole Stodard, artistic director of Thinking Cap Theatre; and Tatiana Williams, founder and executive director of TransInclusive Group, Inc. 

Tickets for the event are $50 and available at HistoryFortLauderdale.org. 

OutSFL contributing journalist Steve Rothaus edited this report. 

Take Pride! Honoree Jason Parsley. Courtesy photo.