SFGN’S PICKS FOR THE TOP 50 PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY WHO DESERVE RECOGNITION
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Welcome to SFGN’s Out 50 Welcome to SFGN’s fourth OUT50 list. When we decided four years ago to come up with this list we thought it would be difficult putting together enough names. It turned out the difficult part was narrowing it down to only 50 individuals. This year I was worried that we were going to start running out of names since we’ve already recognized 150 local LGBT leaders. Again, I was wrong. The hard part isn’t coming up with names, it’s cutting them out. There are just too many LGBT people in South Florida that are making a difference. SFGN is proud to tell these stories and honor them in this year’s OUT50 list. Stories like that of John Adornato, mayor of Oakland Park, who is most proud of being a dad; Tom Runyan, a local lawyer, who brought the community together in the name of love after the Pulse massacre last year; and trans activists like Morgan Mayfaire, who is bringing the trans community together with his TransSocial.org website. Those are just three people in this issue. Make sure to read through them all. These folks aren’t important because they are LGBT, they’re important because of their accomplishments and the work they do. But because they are LGBT they serve as role models for our community — and for future generations. These individuals prove that we are no longer a sideshow, but nowadays, the main show. I hope these people inspire you – as they have inspired me. So welcome to the 2017 South Florida OUT50, a list of activists, business leaders, organizers, and other out and proud members of the local LGBT community.
South Florida’s OUT 50 • March 2017 2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305 Phone: 954-530-4970 Fax: 954-530-7943
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PAST Out50 HONOREES 2014 Andy Amoroso Richard Alalouf Anthony Timiraos S.F. Makalani-MaHee Robin Bodiford Cindy Brown Charlie Fredrickson Craig Stevens Deidre Newton Dean J. Trantalis Emilio Benitez Elizabeth Schwartz
2015
Robert Lee
Steve Adkins
Lillian Tamayo
Jessica Aguilar
Leslie Tipton
Roya
Miriam Richter
Amirniroumand
2016
Andrew Kato
Christopher Bates
Jason King Nate Klarfeld Lea Krauss
Dan Bassett
Aryah Lester
Meredith Ockman
Nick Berry
AL Magdaleno
Michael Rajner
Vanessa Brito
Mike Silver
Brice Brittenum
Nikki Adams
Mark Budwig
Chuck Nicholls Noah Kitty
Kerensa Butler-Gile
Ruth & Connie
Listron Mannix
Rodney Briguglio
Chad Matthews
Katharine Campbell
Michael McKeever
Leticia Carrazana Heather Carruthers
Carol Moran
Carly Cass
Shanna Ratliff
Julie Seaver
Danny Eguizabal
Gary Richmond
Ken Evans
Peter Clark
Gordon Roberts
Sue Gallagher
Luiz Rodrigues
Lacey Camper
Tony Plakas &
Enbar Cohen
George Castrataro
Jaime Foreman
Andrew Eddy
Rick Rose
Rod Hagwood
Michael C. Gongora
Pompano Bill
Electra
Lee Rubin
Dan Hall
Rand Hoch John Castelli Joe Pallant John Paul Alvarez Lisa Porter Jowharah Sanders Ken Keechl Kim Ehly Kristofer Fegenbush Lea Brown
Ralph Wolfe Cowan Robin Schwartz Sebrina Maria Alfonso Steve Rothaus Steve Stagon Toni Armstrong Jr. Tony Finstrom Tony Lima Victor Diaz-Herman William Green
Stephen Fallon Luigi Ferrer
Ted Scouten
Tom Hantzarides
Victoria Sigler Theo Smith
Randy Katz
Jorge Gardela
Will Spencer
Mark Kent
Jason Gibson
Melissa St. John
Leland Kolbert
Robert Griffin
Karen Stephens
PJ & Mary
Sabrine Johnston Brett Karlin
Nicole Waters
Jeff Lehman
Det. Sanchez Josue Santiago Rob Shore
Paul Smith Steve Smith Terry Stone AJ Wasson
Velvet Lenore
Davy Whims
Arianna Lint
Bryan Wilson
LJ Woolston Heather Wright
Chris Rudisill
Mark Silver
Suzi Hollis
Debbie Frazier
Bruce Williams
Andy & Michael
Heidi Siegel
Carla Silva
Steve Haas
Lorenzo Robertson
Brenda Hartley
Justin Flippen
Ron Gunzburger
Bruce Presley
Chapman/Quattrone
William F. Collins
Glen Weinzimer
Mimi Planas
Atticus Ranck
Marsharee Chronicle
Pat Burnside
Cathy & Karla
Orlando Castellano
Michael Murphy Penny Johnson and
Carol Lynn
Jacqueline Lorber
Keith Hart
View 2014 honorees online at sfgn.com/2014out50
Read their stories, and see how this year's honorees compare.
View 2015 honorees online at sfgn.com/2015out50
Want to nominate someone in our community for next year's Out50?
Visit sfgn.com/out50nominations
View 2016 honorees online at sfgn.com/2016out50 3 . 2 9 . 2017
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OUT 50
LGBT HEROES
Right: Cleve Jones. Photo Credit: Gil Goldstein Left: Barbara Grier.
Cleve Jones and Barbara Grier Jesse Monteagudo This week SFGN recognizes our community’s “Out 50.” However, even as we honor today’s LGBT heroes, we should also look back and remember those individuals who made our community what it is today. Unlike today, when leading an LGBT community organization is often a profession, the heroes of the 1960s and 1970s were volunteer leaders of a movement. And while being out is now a given, the women and men of the sixties and seventies were openly lesbian or gay, bisexual or transgender, at a time when most of us were still in our closets. What would our community be without the likes of Harry Hay, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, Frank Kameny, Barbara Gittings, Jack Nichols or Harvey Milk? Even in South Florida we owe much to the likes of Frank Arango, Staci Aker, Bob Basker, Edda Cimino, Rev. Joseph Gilbert, Jay Freier and Tom Bradshaw. Milk is still remembered, thanks to the movie of the same name and his nephew's work. How will we remember the others? Two of our leading LGBT icons made a joint appearance in Miami in 1981, as Grand Marshals for that year’s Gay Pride Parade. One of the Marshals, Cleve Jones, is well-known as Milk’s protégé and the creator of the AIDS Quilt. The other Marshal, Barbara Grier, though not as famous, is perhaps the most important person in the herstory of lesbian literature. Though Grier did not write any major
works of fiction or non-fiction, she promoted “lesbian” as a lesbian book collector, critic, bibliographer (The Lesbian in Literature) and publisher (Naiad Press). I was an active member of Pride at the time, and I got to meet both Jones and Grier. However, I established a greater rapport with Grier, if only because I was one of the few male book critics who reviewed lesbian books. Grier added me to her list of reviewers who received copies of Naiad books and I tried to return the compliment by writing about most of the books she sent me. Cleve Jones, who is a year younger than me, needs no help on my part to get the recognition that he deserves. Jones, after all, is the main character of When We Rise, an ABC TV miniseries about the LGBT movement in San Francisco. Jones is also the author of When We Rise: My Life in the Movement (Hachette Books), a memoir of his eventful life that is as interesting as the series that he appears in. But Barbara Grier (1933-2011), though no longer with us, is finally getting her due. Indomitable: The Life of Barbara Grier (Bella Books) is a long-overdue biography by Joanne Passet, author of Sex Variant Woman: The Life of Jeanette Howard Foster. (Foster’s 1956 classic, Sex Variant Women in Literature was an inspiration for Grier and everyone else who came after them.) Here we read about Grier’s early days as a lesbian in the Midwest;
HOW WILL WE REMEMBER THE OTHERS?
her relationships with Helen Bennett and Donna McBride; her work with the pioneer lesbian journal The Ladder; and her years she spent encouraging and browbeating lesbian authors as head of the Naiad Press. Grier was not an easy person to work with, as many disgruntled former Naiad writers and workers told Passet. However, even Grier’s greatest critics recognize her contributions to lesbian lit and to the LGBT community as a whole. Like all of us, Grier and Jones have or had their share of faults, but these are outweighed by their virtues, talents and contributions. Though I do not read as many LGBT books today as I did when I wrote “The Book Nook,” I still keep an eye out for good books; especially non-fiction titles that educate and inspire our community and our movement. Both When We Rise (the book and the series) and Indomitable make major contributions to LGBT studies and to the history of our community through the lives of a man and a woman who gave us much. They inspire us at a time when our progress is endangered, both from above and from below.
Thanks to all of our contributors for this special issue... LGBT Radio & Podcasts
News, comm en ry, inte entertata inment rviews,
Saturday 7PM-8PM on 850AM WFTL Streaming live on www.850WFTL.com, or by downloading the 850 WFTL mobile app
Hosted by T o • Congressmm Hantzarides with an Mark Fole y for comme • News by S ntary and insight outh Florida • Pop Culture G , Entertainmay News ent with D a n a M • “Faithful & Fabulous” wunson ith Rev. Dr. Le a Brown “Aim
ing to in activate our form, empower, and diverse com munity” Facebook.com/getoutsouthflorida
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Brittany Ferrendi Tucker Berardi John McDonald Denise Royal Michael d'Oliveira Dori Zinn J.W. Arnold Jesse Monteagudo Andrew Printer
Special thanks to our photographers: Steven Shires Michael Cushman J.R. Davis ... and to everyone who submitted a photo! Thank you to Compass GLCC, the Pride Center in Wilton Manors and the LGBT Visitor's Center in Miami for allowing SFGN to host its photo shoots!
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Broward County
Photo: Steven Shires. 3 . 2 9 . 2017
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CHRIS CAPUTO THE TECHIE
When Chris Caputo was diagnosed with HIV five years ago, he “cried it out.” Then, he sought out the help and support he needed. “I thought the world was over,” he said. Before his diagnosis, Caputo, founder of Metro Media Works, a web design, software development and internet marketing firm — now known as Agile Element — donated his time and talents to helping non-profit organizations. He currently sits on the board of the Pride Center and the technology committee of Smart Ride and is one of its top fundraisers. He also one of this year’s celebrity participants in the Poverello Center’s Lip Sync Battle for the AIDS Walk. “As an organization, we do a lot of pro bono
work for the various HIV/AIDS organizations. That work includes running the online fundraising platform. People don’t realize there’s a lot of awesome technology [here in South Florida].” But having the disease himself put that work into a whole new perspective for Caputo. “That level of involvement changes when you take on a different status,” Caputo said. “It’s really driven me to give back more to the community. The [reduction of the] stigma with HIV/AIDS is getting better every year. I know that with the right care and support, anyone can thrive.” – MDO
DURRELL WATKINS THE REVEREND
“THAT LEVEL OF INVOLVEMENT CHANGES WHEN YOU TAKE ON A DIFFERENT STATUS. IT’S REALLY DRIVEN ME TO GIVE BACK MORE TO THE COMMUNITY. THE [REDUCTION OF THE] STIGMA WITH HIV/ AIDS IS GETTING BETTER EVERY YEAR.”
The Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins lets the sun shine in at Sunshine Cathedral. Watkins, the Reverend of the Sunshine Cathedral boasts that it is a ‘different kind of church’ where all are welcome. The church is a vibrant, thriving, progressive congregation that features blended worship, liberal theology, biblical exposition (likely in new ways than many are used to), and a lot of unapologetic fun. Rev. Watkins is the Sunshine Cathedral’s senior minister. In 2015, you may remember he was joined by Lance Bass as he presided over a sunrise beach wedding and vow renewal ceremony for 100 LGBT and straight couples right after same-sex marriage became legal in Florida. Rev. Watkins trained in
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HAROLD DIOQUINO THE CONDUCTOR
Last year, Harold Dioquino was selected to become the artistic director of the critically-acclaimed 150-voice Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida. Born and trained in the Philippines, Dioquino had served for five years as associate director and then one season as interim artistic director while the chorus initiated a nationwide search. Already, the chorus has embarked on an impressive musical journey under his leadership, including holiday performances at the Hard Rock Live and efforts to expand the chorus audience with concerts at larger venues across the region, including the Aventura Arts and Cultural Center, Lauderhill Performing Arts Center and Parker Playhouse. “I’m a firm believer of quality over quantity. We started (this season)
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theology (Master of Divinity, Union Theological Seminary in New York City and Doctor of Ministry, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA.) Rev. Watkins also sees and affirms spiritual power in the arts, in relationships, in nature, and in fearless questioning. His other degrees are in sociology and theatre, and that broad background is evident in his leadership. Rev. Watkins has authored several books, but the ones he is proudest of are “Healing Prayers for Depression” and “Saved From Salvation.” He is happily married to the Reverend Doctor Robert Griffin with whom he shares the joys of life, travel, and ministry.
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by tightening the audition process, requiring our current members to undergo vocal evaluations and musical assessments so we can determine best placement and how to support our members with individual vocal coaching,” Dioquino said. While the gay men’s chorus movement rose during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, Dioquino still feels the ensembles are as relevant as ever in the era of marriage equality. “Besides performing great music, gay choruses around the world demonstrate acceptance to the young and scared gay person. In fact, to some members of the chorus, we’re the only family they’ve got,” he explained. – JWA
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RAJEE NARINESINGH THE FAMOUS FACE
Rajee Narinesingh is on a journey with lots of ups and downs. People all over the world know her face and the story behind it thanks to the reality TV show Botched. “People all over the world contacted me,” she said. “Not only LGBT people, all walks of life, different races, classes and ages.” Narinesingh was injected with cement in her cheeks, chin and lips more than a decade ago. Since then, she’s been on a mission to prove that beauty is more than skin deep. “I know that beauty is within,” Narinesingh told SFGN. “People connect with my essence. What is really important is my spirit and the way I touch people.”
Narinesingh uses the platform given to her from reality TV to help those who feel helpless and hopeless. She turned the lemons given to her in life into lemonade by public speaking and advocating for the LGBT community, especially young people. “My activism has gone full force in the last 18 years,” she said. Looking ahead, Narinesingh has many new projects on the horizon, including a new film role and a new relationship working with a treatment center to help spread her message of empowerment. – DR
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EMERY GRANT THE HISTORIAN
When Emery Grant organizes discussions dealing with culture, sexual orientation and other issues, he tries to be as inclusive as possible. But there’s one thing he always attempts to exclude: preconceived notions. “There’s a responsibility to acknowledge that our lives are much more complex. Our lives are more rich and complicated than what might be a certain set of expectations of what LGBTQ might be like,” said Grant, director of community engagement for the Stonewall National Museum & Archives. Ever since he read a book on feminism in college, Grant said he’s been hooked on cultural studies. “I really feel passionately that LGBTQ culture is for everyone.” As a transgender man, Grant said he’s part of the
LGBT kaleidoscope but he wants to make sure every diverse background has a chance to express itself. “Both professionally and personally, it’s important to ensure that cultural spaces don’t fall short of telling the stories of people with all of their experiences and modes of expression, and that includes transgender individuals.” Before joining Stonewall in 2013, Grant was the marketing director for the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. He started with Stonewall as an arts and cultural worker and transgender activist and has 15 years of experience management of nonprofit arts and cultural institutions. – MDO Photo: Steven Shires.
JOHN ADORNATO III THE DAD
He’s a husband, outdoorsman, mayor and best of all – daddy. “We talked for a long time about wanting to have that experience — to raise a child to share the world and what we’ve learned and what we want to see and it’s been absolutely amazing,” said John Adornato III. Adornato and his husband David Bogardus have been together for 17 years. Their son, Finn, was born to a surrogate in 2013. “Every single moment of it has been the best decision of our life,” Adornato said. “I’m so lucky, so blessed. We worked pretty hard to make a lot of things happen in our life and we’ve reaped a lot of rewards and benefits from it and
definitely one of them is being a father.” Adornato was elected to the Oakland Park Commission in 2011 and presently serves as the city’s mayor. His “real job” as he says involves conservation. Adornato is the senior regional director of the Sun Coast office of the National Parks Conservation Association. Everglades restoration, water management and preserving and protecting America’s national parks, monuments and historical sites is Adornato’s passion. A Massachusetts native, Adornato holds a B.S. in Biology from Tufts University and a Master’s in Wetland Plant Ecology from the University of Maryland. – JMD
DENISE SPIVAK
THE COMMUNITY LEADER Strong communities are made of great, supportive people. Denise Spivak is one of them. You may know her from Women in Network (she’s a past board president); or perhaps seen her during an AIDS Walk, or supporting another South Florida pride event. Spivak works as the Senior Director of Programs & Outreach at CenterLink, the association of LGBT community centers. “We provide training, resources, and assistance – with a mission to develop strong, sustainable LGBT community centers,” she said. “I love my job and love the people with whom I’m lucky enough to work.” Her life’s work focuses a lot more on family. Spivak and her wife June are celebrating 24 years together – the past two of those years as legal spouses.
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“We try to spend as much time as we can with my folks up in Vero Beach or with our two daughters, eight grandchildren and one great grandchild," Spivak said. "That keeps us pretty busy!” Spivak is also concerned about the recent election. “From local government to signing petitions to educating people on the issues, everybody can’t do everything, but we can all do something,” she says. “The next four years are going to be a tremendous challenge, but as the recent women’s marches demonstrated, we are many, and we are mighty, and we can come together and make an impact.” – DR
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Photo: Steven Shires.
ROGER ROA THE FUNDRAISER
Roger Roa is a busy man. As Director of Development for the Pride Center at Equality Park, Roa handles all the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of major donors for annual, capital and planned gifts. He also plans and executes the Center’s major events such as the Rainbow 5k, Diversity Honors Gala and Wicked Manors. “I have worked in higher education for over 8 years and in municipal settings for over 5 years,” Roa said. “Over all I have worked in the hospitality and event planning field for over 12 years. After a decade of event planning I decided to take a leap of faith and change career paths into the world of nonprofit and specifically in fundraising. I have worked for the Pride Center for over 2
years as a member of the executive team and I am solely responsible for raising over $500K in donations that support the operational budget.” In spite of all that, Roa is also involved with Leadership Broward Class of 35, Children’s Harbor, the Covenant House Young Professionals, is a Leadership Advisor for Beta Theta Pi Fraternity and is on the board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. A self-described “dancer at heart,” Roa has been in a relationship with his husband for 11 years, loves to work out and be active, and enjoys movie or Netflix nights at home. – JMG
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DR. MYRON DAVIDSON THE HIV DOC
Dr. Myron Davidson is an internal medicine doctor in Wilton Manors. On any given Saturday morning, the Rowan Tree Medical office is buzzing with patients — men, women, young, old, straight or gay. The majority of the patients in Dr. Davidson’s practice are treated for HIV, though you wouldn’t know it from the mellow vibe permeating through the office. “The way we are, kind of relaxed, it because we deal with heavy stuff,” Dr. Davison said. The practice focuses on whole person treatment. “If I only focus on one part of my patient — T-cells, high blood pressure or blood sugar, then I haven’t done my job,” Dr. Davidson said. “I make sure my patients
understand what T-cell numbers mean. I give a lot of advice. Some days, I sound like Oprah. But I know my office is a safe haven for many people.” This humble, soft-spoken man is originally from Kansas City and attended medical school at University of Miami, specializing in Internal Medicine. His caring manner is rooted in his family — Dr. Davidson grew up very close to his mother and eight younger sisters, one who died recently after a fight with breast cancer. “I feel like I was sent to medical school for a reason,” says Dr. Davidson. “Even if was just to take care of my family.” – DR
JODI REICHMAN THE ACTIVIST ALLY
There are few people that have done as much for the South Florida LGBT community as Jodi Reichman. She has more than 30 years of working and volunteering in South Florida, from her efforts as President of the NAMES Project South Florida chapter of the AIDS Memorial Quilt to Transgender Services Coordinator for The Pride Center. As an ally and longtime LGBT worker, she’s constantly finding ways to make the community better, and her inspiration is pretty close to home. “She’s my idol,” Reichman said of her transgender step-daughter, Kristin. “She is my teacher and confidant and has never sacrificed her potential despite some pretty
hefty trials and tribulations to be the person she is today.” Through all her work, including trans services at The Pride Center, Reichman knows there is more to be done when it comes to support and help for the LGBT community. “If we’re not vigilant, we can become complacent,” she said. “I believe that acceptance leads to support, knowledge leads to understanding and power, and that providing support and empowerment can increase collaboration among organizations. Random acts of kindness would be a great thing, wouldn’t it?” – DZ
DAVID DUNLAP & WESLEY PENNINGTON THE CONCERT ARTISTS
If you flip through the channels on your television, you’re likely to run across a performance by the thrilling keyboard duo of David Dunlap and Wesley Pennington. They can usually be found on one of the local PBS affiliates during the important membership drives with their popular program of classic and pop songs performed on piano and a custom Wersi computer organ. Dunlap and Pennington have been friends for more than 20 years before forming their musical partnership seven years ago. They worked out an entertaining repertoire that ranged from transcriptions of piano concertos and orchestral favorites to show tunes and jazz classics. “Our audiences range from senior citizens to teenagers who were dancing in the aisles at the concerts, if you can imagine that,” said Pennington, who will depart with Dunlap on a 17-day concert tour of Arizona this spring after being the featured artists
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with the Symphony of the Americas in February. Both musicians got early starts: Dunlap began his musical studies at the age of nine and by 13 years of age he was the music director at his church. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras around the world and is a featured artist for the Wersi corporation, the German company that created his state-of-the-art organ that can duplicate every sound of the orchestra. Pennington started piano studies at the age of eight and was discovered playing Brahms by the concert pianist Leonidas Lipovetsky, who extended an invitation to the youngster to become a student. Pennington’s performances have been broadcast in 102 countries. “It’s amazing how two very different people can complement each other so perfectly,” said Pennington of their musical endeavors. – JWA
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Photo: Steven Shires.
MANDI HAWKE THE LGBT TEENS ADVOCATE
If there is one safe space for LGBTQ youth, it’s SunServe. If there’s one person who leads them, it’s Mandi Hawke. Hawke, SunServe’s Director of Youth Services, leads a team that gives LGBT teens a safe space in the community. They have weekly youth groups, an annual Youth Prom, Summer Field Days, Movie Nights and have a Youth Leadership Council. Even with how much SunServe offers, Hawke believes there could always be more help from the community. “I believe there could always be more support: financially, emotionally and physically through volunteering and activism,” Hawke said. “However, over the years I have seen the culture shift in a
significant way for the better. I only hope that will continue!” It’s young people that face some big challenges with affordable housing, steady income and employment. In the future, though, Hawke thinks it can and will get better. “Despite the unfriendly political climate we are entering I believe the LGBTQ community has passed the threshold of no return and will continue to become stronger and more united,” Hawke said. “I could not be more proud to be part of a community who has overcome so much!” – DZ
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TIFFANY ARIEAGUS THE ENTERTAINER
There’s not too much work in South Florida for someone of Tiffany Arieagus’ talents. But Arieagus, a transgender woman and former Miss F.I. Florida in 1978, who sings jazz, disco and the blues, isn’t having trouble getting work in other parts of the country and the rest of the world. This year alone, she’s booked in Las Vegas, South America, Europe, Mexico and Canada. “I love to sing. I love to dance. I do everything. I love to sing the down and dirty blues live. I believe in going past the limit. When I go past the limit, hopefully I can take the audience with me.” When she’s not singing, she serves as the Supervisor of Housing and Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Case Management for SunServe. “I believe you have to be involved in your community. I’m very much into the politics of making America a safer, better place for everyone.” And she’s always the proud matriarch of her family — lots of sisters, nieces and nephews. “My older sister has 10 kids. I’m just happy to be here. My daily mantra is ‘thank you I woke up.’ Every day that you wake up is a chance to do something good and to live to enjoy and to discover. You have to share love. When you share love, it comes back to you.” – MDO
JARAD GIBSON “I HAVE FOUND THAT HELPING PEOPLE WHO NEED IT HAS BECOME MY PASSION, AND I DO WHATEVER I CAN TO HELP THE COMMUNITY. I HOPE THAT PEOPLE WILL LOOK AT ME AND RECOGNIZE THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO STAY IN ONE LANE OR DO ONE SINGLE THING WITH YOUR LIFE.”
THE CANDY MAN
Jarad Gibson is not your typical attorney. He practices law by day and runs a candy store by night. “I put a spin on the whole candy world,” Gibson said. “Something more modern that incorporates a bit of me into the business — it’s bright and bubbly, but it’s not your mom-and-pop candy store, it’s very colorful and modern.” Gibson opened Gimme Sugar Candy Bar (2101 N Federal Hwy #111, Pompano Beach) in September of 2016 thanks to inspiration and encouragement from his husband who runs a successful veterinary practice. Candy, Gibson said, has a strong nostalgia factor that everyone can identify with. “It makes people happy,” he said.
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TOM RUNYAN THE ORGANIZER
Tom Runyan left active duty with the U.S. Navy under the Clinton-era policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The policy, he said, was “designed to keep LGBT persons in the closet.” Not wanting to “remain hidden in society,” Runyan resigned from his commission post in Key West in 1994 and since that time has become a strong leader in the South Florida LGBT community. When the Pulse Nightclub massacre shook the nation to its core, it was Runyan who leaped into action in Fort Lauderdale — organizing a rally on the corner of a popular intersection. The rallies were called “Love Always Wins” and gave locals a way of coping with the terrible incident.
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In his office and at his candy shop, Gibson tries to enrich the LGBT community by helping people as an attorney and making them smile as a candy store owner. “I have found that helping people who need it has become my passion, and I do whatever I can to help the community,” Gibson said. “I hope that people will look at me and recognize that you don’t have to stay in one lane or do one single thing with your life. Of course, I love being a lawyer, but I wanted to open a candy shop too. And I did.” “I want to show people that if you want to do something, it may take some work and time but you can do it,” he said.
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The movement, formed by Runyan and Derek Maingot, continued through the SMART Ride, a cycling event from Miami to Key West that raises over $1 million annually for HIV/AIDS services. When he’s not leading the Gay & Lesbian Lawyers Network, Runyan can usually be found at a South Florida Symphony concert. He is an active supporter and the Runyan Law Firm sponsors the orchestra. Passionate about travel and exploration, Runyan has visited six of the earth’s seven continents. Africa is on his to-do list. – JMD
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MARVIN SHAW THE KIKI PROJECT COORDINATOR
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Urbandictionary.com defines “Kiki” as “a party including good music and good friends, held for the express purpose of calming nerves, reducing anxiety and stress and generally fighting ennui. May involve locked doors, tea and salacious gossip.” Marvin Shaw is Project Coordinator for the Pride Center’s Kiki Project, a gathering for Black same gender loving men, which first began as a joint collaboration between Lorenzo Robertson of the Pride Center with Evelyn Ullah and Christopher Bates of the Broward County Health Department. “The KIKI Project is a locally developed structural intervention incorporating elements of evidencebased interventions including Popular Opinion Leader and Social Network Strategies,” Shaw said. “The Kiki Project Coordinator’s responsibility is to implement a high-impact, comprehensive HIV prevention program focused on Black individuals living with HIV/AIDS and high-risk negative individuals, with a focus on Black men who have sex with men and their sexual partners regardless of race, gender, or ethnicity.” But there is more to Marvin Shaw than the Kiki
Project: “I am heavily involved in many communitybased projects to serve people,” he said. “Naturally, as a Black gay man living with HIV, I have a particular interest in the Black communities, gay communities and black-gay communities; however my real passion is for the betterment of humanity. I work closely with the efforts of the World AIDS Museum, all the programs at the Pride Center. I work closely with programs provided by The Y, Urban League, Rebuilding Together and many others.” Shaw enjoys a three-year relationship with Corinzo Barnette, whom he calls “my partner, family, confidant, teacher and friend. I appreciate our life together and his support and belief in the work that I do.” Shaw’s “greatest joy” is traveling, and he wishes “to see every inch of the earth during this incarnation.” For more information about the Kiki Project phone 954-463-9011, ext. 305 or email jgreen@ pridecenterflorida.org. – JMG
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TATIANA WILLIAMS THE HIV ADVOCATE
Tatiana Williams is enthusiastic about fighting HIV. Her passion guides her in the many roles she fills in our community. At the Pride Center she is the Testing Expansion Coordinator, where every day she works to reduce the incidence of HIV infections. “My job puts me in a position to deal with HIV head on, giving me the opportunity to provide education and outreach to population who is affected the most,” she said. Currently The Pride Center provides HIV prevention services in over 30 locations across Broward County. Williams is also part of the Broward County Health Department Prevention Planning Council and the Ryan White System of Care Committee. “Having many friends who met their demise from HIV/AIDS, I have a passion I can’t explain,” she says.
Williams started working as an outspoken advocate for the transgender community. She’s currently the Community Co-Chair for the Transgender Advisory Group. “I wanted to give more than just beauty, glitz and glamour to my LGBTQ community,” she said. Williams’ other business is show business. Decked out in rhinestones, sequins and glitter, she performs under the name Tatiana Braxton. “I have no regrets about being the beautiful woman I am,” she once told the Daily Mail. Among her accomplishments is being crowned Miss Black Universe 2011 and Miss Sweetheart International 2009. – DR
MIIK MARTORELL THE PROUD DJ
For years, Miik Martorell has been one of South Florida’s most popular local DJs. On any given weekend, he could be found in the booths of the most popular dance clubs, some long gone, some current fixtures in the gay nightlife scene. He’s equally passionate about the local LGBT community and its history. As president of Pride Fort Lauderdale, he took the reins of a challenged organization and devoted thousands of hours to rebuilding the annual event that celebrated 40 years on Fort Lauderdale Beach in February. It’s not unusual for his board members to receive emails in the middle of the night. As the event approached, 20 hour days became commonplace. “This is so important,” he explained. “Forty years ago, Pride got its start as a protest of the repeal of a gay rights ordinance in Dade County. Today, we are
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looking at a presidential administration that threatens to roll back many of our hard-fought advances.” To prepare for the celebration, held on the beach for the first time, Martorell and his board members organized a Pride Tour of nearly two dozen festivals across the country last year. They traveled—at their own expense—to volunteer at the festivals and, most importantly, watch and learn and bring the best practices back to Fort Lauderdale. “We met some of the most amazing people,” Martorell said. “The highlight was being there with them as they saw the results of their hard work. Now, it’s our turn.” Judging from the record turnout, there were a lot of smiles on Fort Lauderdale Beach on Feb. 26. – JW
Photo: Steven Shires.
THE EXTREME COUPONER Between working as an executive office manager for CenterLink, volunteer for the Pride Center and Women in Network, Julia Landis does whatever she can for her community — and she loves it. “It’s an honor to serve every day,” she said. Landis is most well-known for donating all of the school supplies to the Judy Shepherd Tools for Schools Drive and all of the toys to the Judy Shepherd Toy Drive. How does she afford all of these items for the community? Landis and her coworkers at the Pride Center turned to an unexpected place for inspiration — reality television. Watching TLC’s “Extreme Couponing,” Landis realized that if people on the show could get goods for next to nothing, then they could, too. Through the process of gathering coupons and timing purchases with sales and other deals, they donated supplies not only to the community drives, but also food to Poverello Food Bank.
Landis says that working in charity and non-profit has been one of the biggest blessings of her life, and she doesn’t do it alone. She came down to Florida in 2005 to be with her now-wife, Shawn Fanshier. They have been together for 13 years and married in 2013. Landis’s wife supports her volunteer efforts, driving store to store to gather toys, supplies and food to give back to the community. In addition to her job at CenterLink, she’s also a life strategist who helps women (and men in alignment) to “get clear on what they want in their lives” and develops strategies to achieve their goals. Her message to those who want to follow her footsteps and get involved? “If your passion is the community, then go and work in the community,” she said. “Never think that you don’t make a difference.” – BF 3 . 2 9 . 2017
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Kezia Gilyard is the LGBQ+ and T Coordinator for Broward County Public School district. In that role, Gilyard protects the rights and liberties of LGBQ+ and T students, staff and families, with an emphasis on intersectionality. The job includes training school staff on policies and procedures for LGBQ+ and T, including sensitivity and resiliency training. Gilyard also plans the bi-annual Gender and Orientation Alliance (GOA) summit for all LGBQ+ and T middle and high school students. The focus of the GOA summit is to educate students on their rights and health, as well as a means for positive social interaction and validation. “The office was recently
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awarded a grant by the Our Fund Foundation that allowed me to create a leadership council of eight LGBQ+ and T middle school and high school students in Broward County.” In their personal time, Gilyard volunteers as the Youth Board President for the Florida Youth Pride Coalition, working to enrich the lives of LGBQ+ and T youth and allies. “I feel honored to be chosen as one of South Florida's Out 50,” Gilyard said. “I'm in good company and among members of our community that I greatly admire and respect. Thank you for the recognition. The work that we do is not easy, but it is extremely vital. Black Lives Matter.” – DR
JULIE CARSON
THE PUBLIC SERVANT
Re-elected to the Wilton Manors City Commission in 2016, Julie Carson continues a record of public service. And it hasn’t been easy. Carson ended a longtime relationship in 2015 and then suffered a serious injury while horseback riding. She recovered in time to win reelection in a city she has witnessed blossom into a beacon for LGBT people. “Living a fragmented life like I was doing in Tennessee is not really a healthy thing to do,” Carson told SFGN in a 2015 interview. “Wilton Manors makes it a lot easier for people to live authentic lives. It’s a safe haven in many ways.” Active in the Democratic Party, Wilton
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Manors historical society, Friends of the Wilton Manors library, Florida Sheriff’s Association and Women In Network, Carson keeps an active public schedule. Born in southeast Missouri, Carson spent her college years around Nashville, Tenn. where she developed her love of horses, triathlon and Tikkun Olam – a term in Judaism for repairing the world. “I spent a lot of time teaching Hebrew at the synagogue,” she said of her formative years. “Acting through good will is something we are commanded to do. There is no choice and I continue to do that.” – JMD
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Photo: Steven Shires.
MORGAN MAYFAIRE THE TRANS SOCIALITE
Like many leaders, Morgan Mayfaire’s journey began because he saw a need. Mayfaire, a transgender man, and his wife, Ashley, founded TransSOCIAL.org because they were having trouble finding resources. “It came about out of my own personal necessity,” Mayfaire said. “Looking for resources in South Florida was not an easy thing to do. It seemed like the agencies were not working together. We set up a website with a monthly calendar with all the agencies.” And in an area as large as South Florida, Mayfaire said it’s very hard to take advantage of every resource available. “Living in different parts of South Florida makes it difficult. Things are scheduled on the same date and people have to make a choice.” That’s where TransSOCIAL comes in. By creating a calendar,
organizations that provide transgender resources can schedule things on different days. But Mayfaire’s organization does more than just a calendar. One goal now is to make the wider LGBT community more familiar with the transgender community. “We want transgender people to have friends, especially for protection nowadays. We want the rest of the spectrum to get to know the T,” Mayfaire said. “The reality is that most transgender individuals lived as lesbians or gays [before their transition]. So there’s not much difference.” The entire community and its allies, he said, have to unite. “We have to stand strong and get to know each other better.” – MDO
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PAULETTE V. ARMSTEAD THE COP
In 2016, Paulette Armstead made her first run for political office. She lost her race for the Florida House of Representatives by just 718 votes. Running as an out-and-proud African American lesbian, her run was historical. But Armstead has made history before as the first black female police officer hired by the St. Petersburg Police Department. A Florida native, Armstead, 65, brings a wealth of educational achievements and diverse work experience to the political arena. She has degrees in business and criminal justice; a masters in theology; and a Juris Doctorate/Law degree. “After much reading and reflection, I came to believe that my sexuality is not a sin but
rather all human sexuality is a gift from God and that God loves me just the way I am,” Armstead said. “I also came to know and believe that God does not hate me or any other LGBT person.” At the St. Pete PD, Armstead rose through the ranks from a street cop to detective to deputy chief of legal affairs. Today, she lobbies on behalf of the Florida Justice Association and Equality Florida and is the Founder and Director of Broward Apprentices in Construction, a non-profit program that recruits men and women to work as paid apprentices in the construction trades. Armstead resides in Deerfield Beach. – JMD
ROBERT LAMARCHE THE FAMILY GUY
Robert Lamarche is all about building families. He spent most of his career in social work – focusing on child welfare. Lamarche is now an attorney and Executive Director of ACF Adoptions, a licensed, private adoption agency that provides adoption services to birthmothers and adoptive parents, including LGBT parents. Lamarche was also involved in creating the Pride Center’s “parenting series” for LGBT parents looking to parent and also volunteered to build the playground there. Lamarche is also a father of two – a 22-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter whom he adopted with his ex from the foster care system. The son’s adoption in 2008 was among the first for gays and lesbians in Florida. His parenting game remains on point - he coached his daughter’s flag football
team last year. Lamarche is currently engaged – he plans to tie the knot later this year. That’s not the only big change in his future. Disappointed with last year’s election results, Lamarche vowed to stop complaining do something about it. “I realized being distressed and fearful was not helpful,” he admitted. “I committed to being more involved and doing my best to advance progressive causes.” Lamarche was recently appointed to the city of Oakland Park Board of Adjustment. He also attends the Oakland Park Government Academy and is a member and supporter of Pride Fort Lauderdale. – DR
VICTOR ZEPKA
THE PAGEANT OWNER Victor Zepka is the owner of the Boardwalk Bar. Zepka opened the Fort Lauderdale mainstay in Miami in 1984 and relocated it to Broward in 2001. Zepka describes Boardwalk as more than just a bar—he says it’s an entertainment complex. “Our Beefcake Grill has great food made with fresh ingredients including salads, steaks, burgers that our customers love,” Zepka said. “A long time ago, I used to be a chef, so having a delicious food is important to me. I’m very proud of this restaurant.” Zepka is also one of the owners of the Miss Florida Pageant. He is well known by many business owners and is often asked for his advice. “I try to bring people together,” he told
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SFGN. “I realized a long time ago, it takes just as much effort to be nice as it does to be mean,” Zepka’s life has changed dramatically in the last few years. “I was diagnosed with cancer and given six months to live,” he confessed. Zepka underwent radiation, chemotherapy and two operations as he battled tongue cancer. During his recovery, he and a friend took a trip to Rio De Janeiro and that’s when Zepka’s life took a turn for the better. “The first person I met was a DJ in a booth,” he explained. “That man is now my husband living with me in Florida.” – DR
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ANNIE SEGARRA THE DISABILITIES ADVOCATE
Even within the LGBT community, we tend to take things for granted. Local YouTube star Annie Segarra hopes to not only show us what we’re taking for granted, but also how we can help those who are less fortunate. “The LGBT community — which has inclusion in its core values — forgets about our disabled siblings within the community when we actively exclude them from our spaces,” Segarra said. “I'd like to see a lot more diverse and intersectional LGBT identities represented in media.” She believes that despite some victories for equality, we should be doing more to help others. “I think the LGBT spaces that we have now and in the
future, need to prioritize accessibility and begin to think of how we integrate LGBT disabled people into these spaces,” she said. In a few years, she hopes to publish a book and still create video content, and thinks the LGBT community could be better, too. “As a disabled member of the community, it can be so easy to feel invisible — gay bars are often not accessible to me, LGBT online content is often not accessible to my LGBT disabled friends — I want to see this all change” she said. – DZ
Photo: J.R. Davis.
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VICTOR GIMENEZ
THE FILM FESTIVAL DIRECTOR The MiFo LGBT Film Festivals in Miami and Fort Lauderdale have grown into two of the premiere gay and lesbian festivals in the country, largely due to the vision and leadership of Victor Gimenez. Two years ago, Gimenez, then the board chair, moved into the executive director’s chair, tasked with managing the rebranding of the twin festivals and growing the long-neglected Fort Lauderdale festival to match the success of its Miami counterpart. “We view ourselves as not only the largest cultural event each year in South Florida, but as an important festival that introduces films and artists to the LGBT film community,” Gimenez said. “We’re really at the vanguard.” Gimenez’s many years of experience as a project manager in the construction industry and business management would prove valuable as he
coordinates the year-long planning and logistics of the two-week long festivals, corrals hundreds of volunteers and oversees fundraising and corporate sponsorships. “I’m used to a lot of moving parts,” Gimenez admitted, but it’s the people that really make his job so fulfilling, “the people that I meet both within our community within South Florida, as well as the filmmakers and talent that come to the festival.” He’s also looking forward to the festival’s 20th anniversary in 2018, a milestone that is highly anticipated in both communities, as organizers seek to continue to promote excellence in LGBT film and Miami/Fort Lauderdale as important audiences to the industry. – JWA
PARKER PHILLIPS
THE NON-CONFORMIST Although Parker Phillips began as a teacher, they really found their calling as a femme professional dominatrix under the name Lady P. “Bondage is a human urge,” they said, explaining how it connects people through shared experiences and desires. Phillips began doing professional sessions four years ago. In 2014, they partnered up with their mentor and others to form “Studio P,” a dungeon in North Miami Beach. During their time in school, Phillips began their transition from female to male but soon found their comfort mid-transition and gained a solidified role of femdom, which they describe as “empowering,” identifying themself as an assigned-gender female non-binary fem.
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Phillips continues their role in the BDSM community through the organizing of Miami Munch, a place for kinky and curious people to come together under a vanilla setting and discuss events, dungeons and the community. Phillips hopes that globally, there is a change in the cultural attitude toward BDSM. Locally, they hope that the BDSM community can provide a safe space, open more dungeons and educate. For those out there who need support, Phillips offers this advice: “Relentlessly listen to one’s self.” As for themself, Phillips’s mantra is “Don’t give up. Keep going.” – BF
Photo: J.R. Davis.
THE HIV PREVENTION SPECIALIST For Tremaine Jones, a supportive family meant that he didn’t need Pridelines as a lifeline. Many youth, who aren’t as lucky as Jones, find themselves in need of the organization because they’re rejected by their parents after coming out as LGBT. But Jones still found a sense of community and belonging that even understanding and loving parents can’t always provide on their own. “When I first started going to Pridelines I just fell in love with it. Thankfully, I had supportive parents and my sister’s a lesbian. But I think for me it was just finding that community. We were able to socialize and hang out. It was a space to feel supportive and meet other people.” Unfortunately, even that sense of community wasn’t enough to prevent every
negative experience. Eventually, Jones discovered some of his friends had contracted HIV. “I knew what HIV was . . . but at the same time I couldn’t understand why there were young people still getting HIV when there were condoms and prevention.” Now, Jones leads the effort at Pridelines for HIV testing as the Health Services Outreach Manager. His activism in fighting HIV was born in the place he now works. “It got me to be more involved with people in the community. It’s really important that when I get access to information to share with other people.” – MDO 3 . 2 9 . 2017
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MAY SIFUENTES
THE WOMEN’S HEALTH ADVOCATE What is a problem for you may not be a problem for me, and May Sifuentes is hoping that one day soon, we can accept the problems of everyone, no matter how different they are from our own. “Don’t forget the struggles of others, like issues of poverty, economic opportunity, and safety,” said Sifuentes, 29. “Trans women and specifically trans women of color are victims of incredible violence. Intersectionality and the fact that we have many identities to bring to the table is important to keep in mind.” Sifuentes is a program officer at Planned Parenthood Global, the international arm of
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Planned Parenthood for America. She travels constantly — all over the country and to other countries — to provide assistance and healthcare to women, men, and families. Originally born in Mexico, Sifuentes and her family moved to California when she was 12. Now a citizen, she tirelessly works for all groups for better, safer communities. “As a person that has a lot of privilege — I'm a citizen, I have a job, I speak English — I want to make sure I'm doing my part to help my communities here and abroad,” she said. – DZ
Photo: J.R. Davis.
THE MENTOR
“AS A PERSON THAT HAS A LOT OF PRIVILEGE — I'M A CITIZEN, I HAVE A JOB, I SPEAK ENGLISH — I WANT TO MAKE SURE I'M DOING MY PART TO HELP MY COMMUNITIES HERE AND ABROAD.”
Growing up gay in a small conservative Texas town where gay role models were non-existent, Johnnie Mejia says having someone to look up to, to tell him that there was nothing bad about being gay, is something he wishes he had. “I don’t remember any gay people growing up. I’m sure there were but I don’t remember. There were more cattle [in my town] than people, I always joke.” Mejia is also conscious of his “other labels” – Mexican, American, Southern, Catholic. “I’m a mosaic of all of those things, all of those experiences.” But Meija, who works for BB&T Bank, is determined to provide today’s LGBT youth with something he never had at their age. “I’ve mentored youth and I think it’s important they see a confident Photo: J.R. Davis.
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GABRIEL GARCIA-VERA
THE LATINX COMMUNITY ORGANIZER Known to friends as Gabby, this queer latinx community organizer is a force to be reckoned with on the civil rights circuit. “In Tallahassee there’s an old saying that is still very true,” Garcia-Vera said over coffee at the Alchemist in Wilton Manors. “There are no permanent friends and there are no permanent enemies.” As a 10-year-old Garcia-Vera went looking for a book to find out why someone at school called him ‘gay.’ He came out to his mother first then sister – both of whom offered loving acceptance. Leaving Puerto Rico for the mainland, Garcia-Vera landed in Miami where he has become a recognized figure in activist circles. In January, Garcia-Vera protested the
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LGBT person that is successful at making a difference. I think that’s very important.” In many ways, he said, today’s LGBT youth are more fortunate than previous generations. They didn’t live through the worst of the AIDS epidemic like Mejia’s generation and being LGBT doesn’t carry the same stigma as it did years ago. Even with all the progress, Mejia said his generation needs to teach those that came after about previous struggles and ensure they are able to keep making progress. “We still have a ways to go. I think we have big responsibility to keep progressing and not become complacent.”
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new immigration policies of the Trump administration and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s decision to lift a ban on a non-cooperation agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “Detainer Requests” are improperly jailing undocumented people, said Gabby. “The community has not been on high alert since 2013,” Garcia-Vera admitted. Now 27 with a nose ring, bare bottom Instagram photos and a dedication to the leather and sex positive lifestyle, Garcia-Vera presents as a winner thirsty for more. “We’ve held spaces to heal and mourn,” Garcia-Vera said. “Where is our space to organize?” – JMD
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JONATHAN WELSH
For more than 10 years, Jonathan Welsh, a University of Miami alumnus, has been actively engaged internationally and locally. In addition to serving in South Africa with the United States Peace Corps, he has campaigned for various environmental and health initiatives in Portland Oregon, Washington D.C and in Tallahassee. Jonathan is in charge of Marketing and Development with Care Resource. Care Resource is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization and a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) with four facilities, including Miami-Dade, Little Havana(Miami-Dade), Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Care Resource provides comprehensive health and support services to address the full healthcare needs of South
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Florida’s pediatric, adolescent and adult populations. Welsh and his team manage Care Resource’s various websites, marketing and media plans, community collaborations, commercials, newsletters, media releases, direct mail pieces, social media activities and all advertising. Regarding development, he oversees the planning, implementation and execution of the agency’s development drives and special events including, but not limited to AIDS Walk Miami, United for Care (U4C) and White Party Week. Welsh believes that the greatest gift one can give their family and the world is a healthy you. – JMD
Photo: J.R. Davis.
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CHARO VALERO
THE INTERSECTIONAL
“ACCEPTING THERE ARE PEOPLE, WHO BECAUSE OF THEIR DIFFERENCES, BECAUSE OF THEIR DIVERSITY AND COMPLEXITY, DESERVE A LIFE LIKE ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP ALLOWS FOR A MUCH MORE INCLUSIVE, KIND AND EMBRACING EXPERIENCE.” - Maria Dominguez
Sometimes there is too much of a good thing, but not when it comes to equality. Charo Valero still sees great ways for our community to be better, even with the strides we’ve made. “If we are to truly live in community and siblinghood, we need to do better and be better,” she said. “Bringing an intersectional lens means lifting up and centering the narratives of the most marginalized among us. It means engaging a diverse group of people, really listening and being vulnerable, inspiring folks to advocate for themselves, and trusting that we know what we need to be liberated.”
Valero has been in South Florida for a third of her life. Currently she’s the Florida State Policy Director at the Florida Latina Advocacy Network, which is part of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. She was born and raised in Panama City and as a Latina immigrant, gender nonconforming person of color and queer woman, her lens is needed right now. “Our LGBTQ identities may root us in the work we do together but we are so much more than our genders, expression, and sexuality.” – DZ
DAVID RICHARDSON THE LEGISLATOR
Even though he’s Florida’s first openly gay state legislator, (D) Rep. David Richardson, Miami Beach, would rather be known as a legislator first. “I certainly don’t run away from the history, but when I came here I said I wasn’t going to be a gay legislator. I’m a legislator who happens to be gay. It’s a part of who I am but it really hasn’t factored into the work I’m doing.” First elected in 2012, Richardson said he works on LGBT issues, including trying to ban gay conversion therapy throughout the state, but it’s not his only focus. In 2015, he was able to get the state to end its ban on gay adoption by adding an amendment to a pro-
adoption bill. “I was able to get that done through the process.” But it’s through his own presence in Tallahassee that Richardson also hopes to change minds on LGBT individuals. “I think I have changed a few hearts and minds. [Other state representatives and senators] have seen my work and people know I’m so much more than just a gay legislator. They see me as a businessman who understands business. They see me as a CPA who understands finance. They understand I can do the work other than just LGBT rights. “I was able to get three bills passed in my first four years. That’s quite a bit for a person in the minority party.” – MDO
MARIA DOMINGUEZ THE EVENT SPECIALIST
Maria Dominguez has only left Miami to go to college, and that was to go to Florida State University in Tallahassee. Because of her longtime personal and professional history in South Florida, she’s been able to witness the changes in the LGBT community. “Though there is an incredible amount of support, on both a local and national level, we are light-years away from having enough,” she said. “I have seen this community accomplish incredible strides throughout my life, but we cannot become complacent.” Dominguez is the president of Operations & Production Specialists (OPS) in Miami. OPS is a full scale, event production and logistics agency, specializing in merging practical applications and logistics innovation. She’s been involved with Sunny Isles Jazz Festivals, various Art Basel Art Fairs, various City Sporting events, Miami Beach
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Veterans’ Day Parades, and the New York City and South Beach Wine & Food Festivals. Her efforts allow her to network with a range of different people that have proven those in the LGBT community are just like everyone else. “Acceptance rather than understanding should be the focused effort of our support,” she said. “Accepting there are people, who because of their differences, because of their diversity and complexity, deserve a life like any other individual or group allows for a much more inclusive, kind and embracing experience.” In the future, Dominguez sees even more growth. “Now more than ever the community will show up and then more than ever will these movements see direct consequences and progress,” she said. – DZ
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DR. HOWARD GROSSMAN THE HIV SPECIALIST
Dr. Howard Grossman is a long-time leader in the areas of LGBT health and HIV medicine. He recently relocated to South Florida, to practice internal medicine at Cleveland Clinic’s West Palm Beach location. In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, Dr. Grossman encountered some of the first cases of AIDS when he was a resident at Kings County Hospital, one of the largest public hospitals in New York City. Dr. Grossman continued working on the front lines of the epidemic when he later worked at the first dedicated AIDS unit in the country at St. Clare’s Hospital and entered private practice in 1987. In addition to his work as a physician and an advocate, Dr. Grossman has written articles for
many publications and websites, and has served as medical editor for columns in POZ, amfAR’s Treatment Insider, and others. “I always felt that our greatest strength as a community has been the commitment of so many LGBT people to put themselves on the line in the struggle for equality,” Dr. Grossman said. “Especially in the area of improving access to healthcare for all.” He has been involved in HIV research, prevention and advocacy, worked with many community-based organizations and looks forward to continuing this work in Florida. – DR Photo: Michael Cushman.
JESSICA BLACKMAN THE LOCAL ACTIVIST
“I DIDN’T GROW UP BEING LGBT OR THINKING I WAS. MY WIFE WAS THE ONLY OTHER WOMAN I’VE BEEN WITH. WE MET AND IT WAS KIND OF LIKE A LIGHT WENT ON. THE EASIEST WAY TO SEE IT IS I DIDN’T SEE GENDER. IT WAS FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE PERSON.”
Jessica Blackman didn’t grow up knowing she was attracted to other women. But when Blackman met her wife, Katie Wright, she knew she was the one. “I’m not exactly the most typical story. I didn’t grow up being LGBT or thinking I was. My wife was the only other woman I’ve been with. We met and it was kind of like a light went on. The easiest way to see it is I didn’t see gender. It was falling in love with the person.” And when she did come out to her parents, she said she was lucky to find the same love and support she always had known growing up. She was also lucky to be able to marry Katie after the Supreme Court made its 2015 landmark decision which made gay marriage legal throughout the entire United
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MASON PHELPS THE EQUESTRIAN
Mason Phelps Jr. is a serious sportsman. The former Olympian and past president of the National Horse Show is also the founder and producer of the International Gay Polo Tournament. In addition, Phelps is the owner and founder of Phelps Media Group, which allows him to combine his love of sports with business. His client list reads like a who’s who of the equestrian world with names like Derbydown, International Polo Club Palm Beach, International Polo Club and Equestrian Quarterly. In 1996, after losing his brother to AIDS, Phelps co-founded the Equestrian AIDS Foundation, to raise money for those in the equestrian community living with
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States. She and Katie were married in January of 2016. But the right to marry isn’t the end of the struggle. As vice president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, Blackman is involved in advocacy work on behalf of the LGBT community. “Before everything became legal, we were very active getting West Palm Beach to give health insurance, employment benefits [to LGBT individuals]. Now, a lot of our outreach and a lot of our programs are geared towards getting everything to be inclusive in the county and banning (gay conversion) therapy.”
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HIV/AIDS. The organization has since changed its name to the Equestrian Aid Foundation, as it began also raising and distributing money to those in the equestrian community that have suffered calamitous injuries in the sport. Phelps has helped the Florida charity Back to Basics, which provides children with some of the essentials they need to go to school. In addition, he has thrown charity events and galas over the years raising millions of dollars. The most recent event was this year’s Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Winter Fete, raising about $35,000 in profit. – DR
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ROLANDO CHANG BARRERO THE ARTIST
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To call Rolando Chang Barrero just “an artist” is an understatement. He is an outspoken activist for the South Florida arts scene, especially in Palm Beach County, where he has resided for the past several years. “It’s pretty safe to say that millions of people have enjoyed the rich art and cultural diversity of South Florida. Guests and tourists have flocked to South Florida way before the grand opening of Art Basel in 2002 and even prior to the South Florida Art Center on Lincoln Road in 1984,” said the former Miami Beach resident. “In Palm Beach specifically, within the last six years we have witnessed an incredible maturity in both the public and private sectors of the art scene. From the city of Delray Beach to the city West Palm Beach it is more than apparent that the public art administrators and the area’s artists are working together to create many of our
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nation’s most syncretic art and cultural initiatives.” The Cuban-American graduate of the Arts Institute of Chicago Art School operated a self-named gallery in Lake Worth and was a pioneer in the Boynton Beach Arts District, where he founded ActivistArtistA Gallery, which promotes the works of new and maturing artists. “I believe that artists make a living proportionally to their drive, circumstances, and vision. Like doctors, lawyers, and other professionals…some artists navigate life better than others,” he explained. “I have an insatiable desire to leave a legacy defined by what can be done—what is possible in the arts. I’m committed to the advancement of the arts in all areas. I want to enroll people in a vision full of possibilities.” – JWA
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MICHAEL WOODS THE EDUCATOR
Michael Woods has been in Florida his entire life, and as an openly gay teacher at Santaluces Community High School, he takes pride in working with LGBT youth. “My role as an educator gives me a unique perspective. I interact with high school-aged students daily,” Woods said. “I have witnessed a change in the dynamic regarding the way that young people, both view being LGBTQ as well as the way allied students interact with and treat those who are or are perceived as being LGBTQ.” Aside from more than two decades as an educator, Woods has been on the Compass Community Board since 2003. He’s currently
Treasurer. Even though it may seem like we’ve come a long way, Woods said we shouldn’t take it for granted. “We should always be cognizant of the climate of our nation and that the attitudes of individuals are constantly changing,” he said. “We have fought hard in our schools to get anti-bullying and harassment policies changed and implemented — protecting students and staff — but we must work toward a system in which we actively and continually educate about these policies and how to provide safer spaces for youth and adults.” – DZ
JOAN WAITKEVICZ & SHIRLEY HERMAN THE JUSTICE WARRIORS
This origin story dates back to 1973. Joan Waitkevicz and Shirley Herman first laid eyes on one another at a Lesbian Feminist Liberation gathering. They met shortly after, forming a 43-yearlong relationship inspired by social justice. “What holds us together is that we’re activists,” Shirley said, Joan placing a loving hand on her shoulder. They follow the motto: “If you see injustice, say something.” The couple was self-employed in the ‘70s, allowing them to stay out of the closet unlike many other members of the LGBT community at the time. Joan was a part of the St. Mark’s Women’s Health Collective, which provided healthcare for lesbian women who felt alienated by male doctors. Shirley was an accountant, working for a community that was “very generous” to the two of them.
Their desire is simple: “We want to live in a just society,” Shirley said. Joan added, “Justice for one is justice for everybody.” Forty-three years after they met, the couple continues to fight for social justice however they can. They are both in the Democratic Women’s Club of Palm Beach County — Joan as president and Shirley as treasurer. They are also respectively membership chair and treasurer of Palm Beach County’s National Organization for Women. “I’m afraid of what’s in front of us and that my country may be taken from me,” said Shirley, concerned about the rights of the LGBT community following the recent presidential election. “It’s these ideas that keep us together.” – BF
TONYA DAVIS JOHNSON THE COUNCIL WOMAN
When Councilwoman Tonya Davis Johnson ran her political campaign, she didn’t talk about being a lesbian. Instead, Johnson said she wanted to make her successful bid for Riviera Beach’s District 3 Council seat about “my ideas and the people.” Elected in March of 2016 to a three-year term, Johnson originally served on the council for six months in 2009 after being appointed. Last year wasn’t her first election campaign but it did result in her becoming the city’s first openly-gay elected official. “Being elected said to me that the people supported my platform, my ideals and my desire to serve them.” Even though her sexuality never came up in a public forum, she said it’s no secret, and that her being elected, by a public which knows she’s a lesbian, is a sign of progress and most people not caring about issues like that anymore. Johnson lives
in Riviera Beach with her partner, Felicia A. Scott, and granddaughter, Brookelyn, and two dogs, Mello and Roxy. She said the issues she’s most concerned about are crime, education, housing, economic development, small business development, retention and the redevelopment of the city. “I think as people get to know me and see my work and commitment. That’s all they’ll care about. [My sexuality] has nothing to with my ability to serve the citizens of Riviera Beach.” But just as voters expect the same level of hard work and commitment, Johnson faces the same challenges as her straight counterparts when it comes to finding a balance between politics and the personal. Meeting the challenge, she said, involves “making time” for her family. – MDO 3 . 2 9 . 2017
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MICHAEL GRATTENDICK THE CHAIRMAN
Michael Grattendick admits it’s a scary time for the LGBT community in the current political climate. “We have seen so many advances in recent years, and now we are facing the real threat of having our marriages declared null, our foreign-born partners and friends forced to leave, and our healthcare taken away,” he said. “Now more than ever we have to remain a strong community.” Aside from being the Chief Financial Officer of Aurora Diagnostics, Grattendick is also the chair of the Compass Community Board. He’s been on the board for 10 years and despite big strides that have been
made, he still advocates for more and better support in the community. With the recent political changes, we’re going to hear many more voices, and loudly. “While it is a scary time, it is also an exciting time,” he said. “We are no longer a fringe group, we are an important, vital part of the fabric of every town and city in our area, and we won’t see us retreating into the shadows. You’ve seen how communities and groups across the United States are standing up to bigotry and hate. You will see that in our local community as well.” – DZ
TIA JOLIE PHILLIPS
THE PRIDE+ FOUNDING PILOT Dr. Tia Jolie Phillips is an LGBT advocate, entrepreneur, musician and skilled aviator. She also has a Ph.D. in Holistic Natural Health & Nutrition. Dr. Phillips founded Jupiter Pride+ in 2016 following a series of teen suicides in the area. One of the victims was apparently bullied for being LGBT. “I especially advocate for the marginalized, the underprivileged and the underdogs,” Phillips said. “I chose the term Pride+ to acknowledge all non-LGBT advocates who similarly advocate for equal rights. They are the plus part of Pride.” The Jupiter Pride+ standard of “being kind to others always and leaving places better than we found them” resonates with Jupiter-area residents. The group is also drawing interest
from as far north as Port St. Lucie and as far south as Boynton Beach. “We had more than 60 people attend our first-ever LGBT mixer in January,” Phillips said. “We already have people waiting for our online ticket portal to open for our Pride Month ‘Loving You for You’ concert in Palm Beach Gardens on March 31.” Phillips, a former military pilot said she “worked to protect American freedoms, including the rights to speak and express; to pursue happiness, including one’s choice of life partners.” Though she’s no longer a military officer, she remains compelled to lead rebellion against individual oppression of all sorts. – DR
TRENT STEELE THE PITBULL
Attorney Trent Steele is a legal warrior. Nicknamed ‘the Pitbull,’ Steele has spent more than 25 years at the forefront of legal actions involving LGBT rights in Palm Beach County. The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council board of directors routinely calls upon Steele to assist people victimized by businesses, schools and government. Early in the HIV epidemic, when a divorced father of two young sons, one with HIV, wanted custody of his non-infected son to protect him from infection by his brother, Steele worked to keep both boys with their mother. Ten years ago, Steele sued a local religious school when a tenth grader was expelled after telling the school’s pastor that he might be gay. Steele won a confidential settlement and
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sparked a national discussion about the rights of LGBT students in private schools. More recently, Steele has been working with Palm Beach County, the City of West Palm Beach and other cities to pass ordinances prohibiting “conversion therapy” for minors. He has also been assisting a number of transgender clients who have been denied medical care, police protection, and other services. “I am honored to be included among this impressive and inspiring group of individuals,” Steele said. “As a group, we can move mountains. Thank you SFGN for being a voice for those who deserve to be heard.” – DR
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JANA PANARITES THE LGBT ELDER ADVOCATE
LGBT elderly people face huge setbacks when retirement age hits. By the time many older LGBT adults figure out their finances and long-term care, it’s usually too late. But Jana Panarites is fixing that with her Agewyz Podcast. “LGBT aging is rarely discussed in the media, yet when it comes to growing older, our community faces unique challenges because many laws and public policies favor biological and ‘traditional’ families,” Panarites said. “The Agewyz Podcast is providing the community with much-needed information about innovative programs designed to meet the needs of LGBT older adults and their caregivers.” Panarites’ podcast also gives a platform to LGBT
elderly who are handling their aging well and can offer advice to others on how to do the same. Even though a lot of progress has been made, Panarites thinks more can be done to help the aging LGBT community. “Many older LGBT adults don’t trust the medical system, and the idea of moving into a long-term care facility means going right back into the closet,” she said. “More education and outreach are needed in these healthcare industries. Thanks to the new administration, I see the LGBT community growing stronger and more unified than ever.” – DZ
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The Keys
Photo: Andrew Printer. 3 . 2 9 . 2017
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CASPIAN CASSIDY
THE HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVIST Caspian Cassidy is a senior at Key West High School. He is engaged in a dual enrollment program with the local community college in anticipation of finishing at a university and starting a career in food technology. To say that Caspian Cassidy has the fortitude to realize his clear ambition is an understatement. When he began high school a few years back, then Anastasia Cassidy, was wrestling with a difficult home life that resulted in multiple suicide attempts. In Cassidy’s sophomore year, however, he understood that he was transgender and determined to make changes based on this truth. Choosing a new first name that kept a
connection with his Russian heritage Caspian Cassidy embraced his identity and became a determined educator and role model in his high school, in the process, taking his message to the school board. Cassidy keeps busy. He is president of the high school’s Gay Straight Alliance, eager to make the most as a leader. He participates in band where he is proficient at an astonishing 10 instruments. Beyond that and with a nod to his career aspirations Caspian is heavily invested in food, gardening and agriculture and founder of the Grimal Grove youth program. – AP
Photo: Andrew Printer.
SUSAN KENT
THE HOME BUILDER Susan Kent was working as the general manager for a regional airline when she was transferred to Key West in 1991. She fell in love immediately! Kent loved that a person’s actions here are more important than the size of their home or the number of zeros at the end of their paycheck. Kent’s appreciation wasn’t just lip-service. Over the years she has become an energetic ambassador for many local causes, including the Key West Business Guild, Pride, Womenfest and The Sister Season Fund. Kent was also part of the team of Marriage Equality advocates who worked with a local same-sex couple in their successful legal battle with the state of Florida.
Kent is also proud to have been part of the effort behind unfurling a 1.25-mile-long Seato-Sea Rainbow Flag from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. Professionally, Kent is currently the Program Director for Habitat for Humanity of Key West and the Lower Florida Keys, because, “affordable housing is a critical issue in the Keys.” Kent has an infectious smile, a passiondriven focus on what matters and a wonderful memory of local history. And, when she says that Key West folks are “some of the most caring, generous and giving people anywhere” it’s pointless to disagree. – AP
Photo: Andrew Printer.
THE REV. STEVE TORRENCE THE JACK OF ALL TRADES
On the day after the Pulse massacre, a prominent image for many Key Westers was that of the Rev. Steve Torrence and his husband John Hernandez leading an emotional group to the water’s edge. Pride was wrapping up on the island but for many, the party could wait. Torrence spoke a few words before his husband placed a wreath of soft white flowers into the waves. From AIDS patient advocate to Animal Shelter supporter to keeper of the peace, Torrence has been ministering to the whole community. Torrence came to the keys in 1985 to pastor the Metropolitan Community Church. He recognized the support within the community, and decided to stay, and became part of the fabric of island life. AIDS was a national crisis at the time so Torrence became an advocate for those without a voice, co-
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founding AIDS Help. He continues to be a voice for inclusion and justice as Chair of the 16th Circuit Juvenile Justice Board, Chair of the Monroe County Community Alliance Board - Florida Department of Children and Families, Police Athletic League Board and Monroe County's Health and Human Services Advisory Board among other affiliations. Torrence maintains a modest profile despite the extra-curricular endeavors as well as two high-profile jobs. He continues to serve as Pastor of the MCC Key West, performing the first samesex wedding in Monroe County. He is also a police officer with the Key West Police Department. Retirement is on the horizon, however, at which point Torrence will return to full-time pastoring. – AP