SFGN's OUT50 2018

Welcome to SFGN’s fifth OUT50 list.

When we decided five years ago to move forward with this idea we thought it would be difficult putting together enough names. It turned out the difficult part was narrowing it down to only 50 individuals.

Each year since I’ve worried that we were going to start running out of people. But after five years the hard part is still cutting our list down. There are just too many LGBT people in South Florida who are making a difference.

We’ve already recognized 200 local LGBT leaders, activists, business people, artists and others. And now we’re adding 50 more.

SFGN is proud to tell these stories and honor them in this year’s OUT50 list.

Stories of gay men like Andis Tamayo, an activist who is working to save child slaves in Haiti; lesbians like Rachel Simpson who is tackling substance abuse in the LGBT community; drag performers like Sushi, the famous queen shown around the world each New Year’s Eve as her shoe drops on Key West; and non-binary activists like Jack Lee Jordan, who leads a leadership program for local queer youth and Logan Meza, who helped organize the Florida March for Black Women and LadyFest Miami.

Those are just five 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 2018 South Florida OUT50, a list of activists, business leaders, organizers, and other out and proud members of the local LGBT community.

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