An unlikely woman is leading the charge to embrace LGBT people in the Deep South.

In the culture wars griping America, it is the Central Intelligence Agency leading the way for positive change within the intelligence community.

While symphony orchestras across the country still continue to deal with the aftermath of the Great Recession and dwindling donations, the South Florida Symphony continues to buck the trend.

“A Thing of Beauty” shows fresh, unspoiled faces in an offbeat way. Photographers Jake Jaxson and RJ Sebastian effectively and emotionally draws attention to the young performers.

Historians and anthropologists say that our relationship with humans started 15,000 years ago when, with the development of agriculture, your forebears became more sedentary.

Lani Ka'ahumanu, BiNet USA co-founder and leader in the bi movement for almost 35 years, turned 70 last October. Lani's list of accomplishments is exhaustive:

Her name was Jennifer Gable. She was 32 years old when a brain aneurism tragically ended her life on October 9, 2014. She’d spent the last few years of that life living as the woman she was. She’d reached out to the trans community and the community reached back. She was a trans woman, and that’s how we’ll remember her. Jennifer Gable was one of us.

Last week, Houstonians voted to repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), marking the end of a year and a half long battle over the city's non-discrimination ordinance. HERO's opponents owe a large part of their success to local media, which helped frame the measure as a "bathroom bill" while uncritically repeating opponents' bogus "bathroom predator" talking points.

Opponents of LGBTQ equality often try to make LGBTQ parents seem like a new and untested phenomenon, and therefore something to be avoided. The history of LGBTQ parents and our children, however, goes back further than one might think.

The word “queer” has occupied a prominent place in modern American gay culture, either as a hateful term of insult and denigration or as a vibrant affirmation of one’s sexuality and desire.

The biggest acts come to the American Airlines Arena in Miami. Janet Jackson brings her Unbreakable World tour to the Triple A on Sept. 20, followed by Marc Anthony, Oct. 2 – 3, Ricky Martin, Oct. 24, and Taylor Swift, Oct. 29. Madonna will be stopping by, also, but you’ll have to wait until January. Get your tickets now. Tickets and more information at AAArena.com.

Russian President is a 62-year-old hunk. He is a man’s man, virile and muscular. If he were on Scruff, he would be snapped up. But he can’t be gay, right?

Conner Habib may have attracted a loyal following of fans as a porn star, but he’s also a whip-smart blogger who unabashedly discusses sex and sexuality, as well as everything from music to medicine to health. While he hasn’t made any films thus far this year, Habib has been finishing up his forthcoming book The Sex Book: Myths, Positions, Taboos, and Possibilities(Disinformation Books, 2015)

From the Book:

In an industry where so many brands and companies seem to come and go, celebrating a 10th anniversary is quite the achievement. When Corbin Fisher began in a modest home basement in 2004, our focus was on making it through to the next month; while we certainly worked towards establishing something that would thrive and last, we were not so presumptuous to even think about where we might be 10 years down the line. Here we are, though - marking our first decade online, looking forward to our next, and both thrilled and humbled these years have been shared with so many incredible performers, fans, friends and partners.

With the release of "Interior. Leather Bar,” SFGN decided to take a look back at the film, “Cruising,” which inspired James Franco's "mockumentary.” “Interior” reimagines the scenes that were cut from the 1980 thriller.

The Miami City Ballet celebrates its 30^th anniversary this season, a distinguished history that has played homage to legendary choreographer George Balanchine while premiering works by promising young talents.

I PLEDGE….

With so many bars on the drive either serving food, or changing up their menus, not to mention the newcomers joining the party, we felt it was time to take a look at the fare that’s available. We have focused only on those places that are primarily known as bars or clubs, so Tropics and Rosie’s, both primarily restaurants are not included.

I was inspired. As I drove north on I-95, I couldn’t help but recall the profound simplicity of some of the contemporary art I experienced at Art Basel in Miami Beach.

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, so you run to Publix or the neighborhood liquor store to grab a bottle of champagne for that romantic night with your sweetie? Not so fast, said Craig Diamantopoulos, sommelier for Republic-National Distributing Company. Check that label before making that crucial purchase for your big night.

Some people think God and being Gay do not mix. Certainly religion has been a source of both peace and pain for many LGBT Americans.

Now, there’s #FaithfullyLGBT, an interfaith hashtag for queer people of faith. It’s also a photo series capturing LGBT people of all backgrounds and faith traditions and shares their stories.

Creator Eliel Cruz describes it as a place for LGBT people of faith to share news stories, share their own stories and find other people going through similar experiences in places of worship.

“I created it over a year ago and it has become a vibrant online community,” the bisexual activist said. “The series came from wanting to brand the hashtag a bit more.”

Cruz is a writer who covers religion, bisexuality, media, and culture at The Advocate, Mic and Religion News Service.

“I've written on the LGBT faith community for over four years now in media,” he said. “There's still such a divide in terms of the conversation being a God vs. Gay debate. Despite there being ample evidence that there is a significant portion of LGBT individuals who are religious, both LGBT organizations and faith traditions perpetuate the false divide. The last Pew Research on religion showed how many queer people actually identify with some sort of faith tradition.”

Cruz admits covering gays and god can be tense.

“Both people of faith and LGBT folk aren't crazy about LGBT people of faith,” he confessed. “As evidenced in the comment section of every piece I write, and surely this piece once it's published, there will be queer people really angry for us choosing to stick with our faith traditions. I understand that -- it comes from a genuine place of pain. Many LGBT people go through instances of homophobia rooted in religiosity.”

That’s not stopping Cruz from having big plans for this project. He’s started a crowdfunding effort on Indiegogo to help pay for additional photographers. 

“I am photographing more individuals as I travel to meet with other queer people of other faith traditions,” he said.

You can find out more about #FaithfullyLGBT and its fundraising efforts at Indiegogo.com

These days, actors like Glee's Chris Colfer, Zachary Quinto (Star Trek) and Neil Patrick Harris live out, proud lives. Like many other young stars, they've seen no career backlash. Some have said that coming out actually enhanced their careers.

The holidays may be over, but there are still plenty of opportunities to eat, drink and be merry.

Guyana is one of the few Caribbean countries that is not an island. Still, homophobia is as rampant as sunshine in the country that is nestled between Venezuela and Suriname.

Looking for a nearby escape or just a chance to get out of the house for a few hours? Check out one of these local festivals and experience the diverse arts and culture of South Florida:

The far away world of James Cameron’s blockbuster film, “Avatar,” comes to life on the stage in Cirque du Soleil’s “Toruk – The First Flight.”

LEGS are the biggest, strongest muscle in the body! They have the ability to activate a large amount of muscle fibres and burn heaps of calories, which will help improve overall strength, size and definition. Building lean muscle should be a priority for everyone, no matter what sex, how old you are, or what your overall goals are for that matter. So having said that, this article is written to explain the importance of incorporating legs into your training program for overall strength, definition, performance. The other aspect of this article is to bring your attention to the hormonal effect that comes with training big muscle groups, especially the legs. The hormonal effect or the metabolic effect as you may have herd it referred to, is where the getting ripped come into play.

I am sure you have all heard the term Super Set before, along with the terms Single Set, Drop Set, Alternating Set, Giant Set and so forth. The questions is though, which set should you do?