As many churches around the country face devastating declines in membership, Rev. Dr. Lea Brown believes that the success of the Metropolitan Community Church of the Palm Beaches is one vital thing: relationship.

Pastor Leslie Tipton was born in Woodland Hills, California. She got her bachelor’s degree in behavioral psychology at San Diego State University. She attended SpiritSong Institute, obtained a certificate of ordination and was ordained a reverend in the Christian faith. She serves as senior pastor at SpiritSong in Wilton Manors.

As the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of South Florida and the Treasure Coast, Lillian Tamayo has spent the last 15 years not only advocating for women’s health issues, but also for people’s health issues.

Judge Lisa Porter has been a part of the Florida Justice System for over 20 years and was previously profiled by SFGN in 2012 for her marriage to her partner of 25 years, Patricia Windowmaker, deputy general counsel to Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.

For young LGBT people, this June being the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall riots makes the gay rights movement seem like it’s been going on forever.

However, for many LGBT couples in the community, their stories start way before. Mary Maguire and her wife, Jackie Emmett, have been a part of each other’s lives for 52 years. To celebrate their long-term love, as well as many others in the South Florida community, they’ll be participating in the Stonewall Pride parade on June 21.

“At a time when there is so much movement on the marriage equality front, it’s especially meaningful to take a moment and celebrate couples whose commitment and example has provided significant influence for the societal shift on same sex marriage,” said David Jobin, executive director of the Stonewall National Museum & Archives.

This is the third year that the Luminary Couples of South Florida have participated in the Stonewall Pride Parade — first riding in vintage cars, then in creative, themed floats. This year’s theme is anniversaries, and with their name being the luminaries, “we’re going to light that sucker up,” Maguire said.

Originally, the luminaries were a group that brought together LGBT couples who have been together for 20 or more years. To include more couples, they lowered the threshold to 10 or more.

“It's important that everybody, both gay and straight, understand that gay couples can have solid relationships,” said Maguire, who has been with Emmett for 52 years this September. “I won’t tell you that we’ve never had an argument, or that either one of us have ever lost their temper over anything.”

Maguire met Emmett when the two were roommates at Naval boot camp in Great Lakes in 1962. Not only was it hard to be a woman in the military, being a gay woman in the military was a whole other story. Through their ups and downs — including Emmett marrying a man to please her family — last September, the two finally tied the knot in New Hampshire in a small ceremony.

While they’ve been together for the longest, other couples in the group are not far behind, celebrating decades of unwavering devotion and love. With more states recognizing same-sex marriage, many of them have finally been able to make their relationship legal.

“We’ve always shown respect for each other and you can’t get to these numbers of years unless you do just that,” Maguire said.

The Stonewall Pride Parade is June 21 and starts at 7 p.m. The route starts at the south end of Wilton Drive at Fort Lauderdale High School, continuing up to Five Points at Dixie Highway. For more information, visit StonewallPrideWiltonManors.com.

For more information the luminary couples, visit LuminaryCouples.org.

A man who spent $100,000 on plastic surgery to look like pop star hunk Justin Bieber, and who was also featured on the reality TV series "Botched," has been reported missing in Los Angeles county, the Daily Mail reports.

It was originally reported Thursday morning that Mariela Castro, LGBT rights activist and niece of former Cuban president Fidel Castro, was on the Air Algerie flight that went missing over Mali. But as Gay Star News points out, Castro went on a Latin American TV station to say she was alive.

The out, married daughter of former Vice Presiden Dick Cheney, wants to know why it isn't "socially acceptable" for a white person to "put on blackface and act out offensive stereotypes of African-Americans" if drags queens are allowed to imitate female stereotypes?

From our media partner Sun Sentinel...

Al Goldstein, the profane and hilarious New York pornographer who made an indelible mark on South Florida, died on Thursday. He achieved fame and fortune with Screw Magazine, erected an 11-foot tall middle-finger sculpture in the backyard of his Intracoastal mansion in Pompano Beach and once ran for Broward Sheriff against the late Nick Navarro, whom he despised.

While Joan Rivers lay sedated in a Manhattan clinic, her doctors performed unauthorized medical procedures, snapped a selfie with the comedian and failed to act as her vital signs deteriorated, according to a malpractice lawsuit filed Monday by her daughter, Melissa.

As the Vice President of the Florida National Organization for Women (NOW), Meredith Ockman has not only helped the voice of the women’s movement, but also of the LGBT movement.

Michael C. Gongora was the first openly gay Hispanic commissioner in Florida to be elected to any public office. In addition, Gongora was the first openly gay person to win an election to public office in the City of Miami Beach, despite a negative campaign against him. Currently, he is an attorney with the Coral Gables law firm, Becker & Poliakoff.  He’s a Miami native and graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School Law.  

Michael McKeever is truly the renaissance man of South Florida theater. His plays, filled with “wit, insight and a healthy dose of his quirky sense of humor,” have been performed across the United States, Europe and Russia.

Michael Emanuel Rajner’s coming out process began in Los Angeles as a twenty-something conservative.

(CNN) -- When football player Michael Sam came out as gay in February of last year, he gained support and encouragement from around the world.

It may have been an up-and-down 2014 for Michael Sam, the first athlete to be drafted in the NFL to come out as gay, but he's starting off the new year with a bang: the football player is reportedly engaged to his boyfriend Vito Cammisano.

As a detective assigned to the Special Victims Unit of the Pembroke Pines Police Department, Officer Mike Silver’s passion for investigating crimes against the vulnerable and defenseless means working long hours and being on call and able to respond at any time of the day and night.

When Miriam Richter first became (2011) an LGBT advocate — a title she prefers to activist — she was known as a trademark attorney who concentrated her practice on intellectual property matters.

Thanksgiving is here, and I’m thinking about what we as an LGBTQ community have to be thankful for lately. Recent news has been rather sobering.

After a decade of silence, Monica Lewinsky, the former White House employee who had an affair with President Bill Clinton, speaks out about her experiences.

Pride Center at Equality Park is ready to officially open its new playground at Saturday’s fifth annual community day.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender headlines for the week.

Nikki Adams has been entertaining for the last 37 years. Many of her performances have been to charities that directly support AIDS.

It’s been 40 years since Etz Chaim opened its doors as a welcoming place to both the Jewish and LGBT community. As the Executive Director, Rabbi Noah Kitty has seen first-hand the support and friendship of the community.

The sports world seemed to make headlines throughout 2013, as more from within what was once an all straight boys club kicked the closet door further and further open.

Here's a few notable 2013 coming outs, some whom are familiar to ESPN viewers, some who aren't:

In commemoration of National Coming Out Day, (October 11) SFGN recalls a few brave souls who dared to venture out of the closet long before it was safe or acceptable to do so. We salute their courage.

Freshman Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney plans to marry his long-time partner, who proposed over Christmas.

Richard G. Grant, founder of the famous Soundfactory nightclub in New York City has died at age 71.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The lead plaintiff in the landmark lawsuit that led to legal gay marriage nationwide is endorsing the Democratic challenger to Ohio senator Rob Portman, despite Portman's dramatic position reversal in favor of same-sex unions.