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.

Jarad Gibson is not your typical attorney. He practices law by day and runs a candy store by night.

There are few people that have done as much for the South Florida LGBT community as Jodi Reichman.

He’s a husband, outdoorsman, mayor and best of all – daddy.

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.

Re-elected to the Wilton Manors City Commission in 2016, Julie Carson continues a record of public service.

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.

If there is one safe space for LGBTQ youth, it’s SunServe. If there’s one person who leads them, it’s Mandi Hawke.

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.” 

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.

Like many leaders, Morgan Mayfaire’s journey began because he saw a need.

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Known to friends as Gaby, this queer latinx community organizer is a force to be reckoned with on the civil rights circuit.

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.

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.

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.

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.