FLORIDA’S AGENDA TOP100 LGBT MOVERS & SHAKERS

THE TOP 100 LGBT MOVERS AND SHAKERS

By Richard Hack and Alexander Kacala

The Florida Agenda’s first annual list of 100 LGBT Movers and Shakers in the Sunshine State is a showcase to a group of individuals who are passionate enough about discrimination, civil rights and equality for all Americans to be honored as leaders in a powerful club of determined and self-sacrificing heroes.

While some would seem obvious picks for inclusion in the list—from business leaders to crusading politicians, far more are blue color workers, retail clerks, students and other volunteers from all walks of life who have chosen to participate in an historical equal rights movement that crosses all races, creeds, religions and financial strata.

Today, we do more than simply honor them here for their accomplishments. We hold them as standard bearers who inspire and encourage the best in all humankind. Through the work of these men, women and teenagers, not only is our LGBT world a better place in which to survive; America is a better place to live and excel.

We’ve listed them in alphabetical order, for each is special in what they do, and each is first in what’s they’ve achieved.

Here then is our salute to the top 100 LGBT Movers and Shakers in Florida 2015.

Congratulations to all!!

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1- NIKKI ADAMS — Female impersonator/Angel of mercy

For Nikki Adams, life is a cabaret—both on and off stage. The indefatigable female impersonator has performed in nearly every bar, club and stage in town. Even after 38 years in Fort Lauderdale, Nikki is showing no sign of slowing down her pace. When she isn’t entertaining her fans in nightclubs, she is donating her talent to raise millions of dollars for clauses that range from the Pride Center to the Pet Foundation, with a special place in her heart for the Broward House, where she acts as Community Liaison.  She has held the titles of Miss Florida Female Impersonator, and Miss Continental Elite, and, in 2011, was named Community Star of the Year.

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2- STEVE ADKINS — President, Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (MDGLCC)

Steve is both the president of the board of the Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (MDGLCC) as well as its Executive Director. Never one to stay far from the control panel, Steve also sits on the board of the Miami Beach Visitors and Convention Authority, the Miami-Dade Community Relations Board and Miami Beach Gay Pride. Under Steve’s leadership, the MDGLCC has become the largest not-for-profit corporation in the county for gay and lesbian businesses. Born in San Diego, the 58-year-old is the son of a NASA engineer, and was awarded the National Gay & Lesbian Task Forces Eddie McIntyre Community Service Award in 2009.

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3- JESSICA AGUILAR — Latina activist and MMA fighter

At 5’4” and 115 pounds, Jessica Aquilar is known as a Strawweight among her Mixed Martial Arts league. But one look at this fighter originally from Poza Rica de Hidaigo in the Mexican state of Veracruz will tell you she’s a heavyweight hitter for causes in which she believes. She’s come a long way from Mexico’s Federal Highway 180, by way of Houston, to the paradise known as Fort Lauderdale. When mistakenly called a bisexual fighter in an article in Huffington Post, Jessica was quick to point out, “For the record I am not bisexual. I am 100 percent a lesbian. I am proud to be a leader for females across the globe in the LGBT world!” She achieves her goals by focusing on the positives, working at the things you can control and always treating others with respect.

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4- RICHARD ALALOUF — Executive Director, South Florida Family Pride  

A native of Montreal, Canada, Richard Alalouf formed the South Florida Family Pride organization as a means for gays and lesbians with children to meet and play together, sharing experiences and developing the opportunity for kids in LGBT families to associate with youth who share the same challenges and peer-pressure. With his husband Tom Mulroy, Richard is raising a pre-school son with an infectious smile and the eagerness to learn. A flight attendant for jetBlue, Richard looks forward to the day when same-sex families don’t require explanation or excuses, welcomed into the neighborhood community at large.

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5- A.J. ALEGRIA — President, Impulse Group South Florida

Alfredo J. Alegria (AJ to his friends) lives and breathes Impulse Group South Florida. That’s the four-year old organization that brings awareness to the growing threat of HIV to teenager and young adults, the fastest growing population for new infection. He is vice president of Impulse United, as well as the director of Client Experience at AIDS Healthcare Foundation. He lives in Fort Lauderdale with his partner Brad Lee.

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6- SEBRINA MARIA ALFONSO — South Florida Symphony Music Director

Now in its 18^th season, the South Florida Symphony Orchestra may not be Sebrina Maria Alfonso’s life, but it certainly is her soul. As the orchestra’s musical director, the Key West native is one of the few female conductors of a major professional orchestra, and the solitary lesbian in the group. Having made her New York debut conducting the American Symphony Orchestra at the finals of the Stokowski International Competition in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Sebrina sees music as a way crossing all boundaries—religious, political, sexual, and social. And she has traveled the world to prove the point. She has been the guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Jose Symphony, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony,  San Antonio Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Prague Radio Symphony, the Orchestra de Rús in Sienna, Italy, plus she was the first Cuban-American conductor invited to lead the National Orchestra of Cuba.

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7- ROYA AMIRNIROUMAND — Coordinator, Women with Pride, Pride Center

There’s no way around it. Her last name is a tongue-twister. But this vivacious 25-year-old is happy to be just “Roya” to her legends of fans within and without the Pride Center at Equality Park where she coordinates the Women with Pride program. “Coming out is a process,” Roya said, and it is a process she understands very well. “A lot of people in my life have asked about my personal sexuality. And the truth is at the end of the day, I am a woman—and the LBT community is at the heart of the women’s movement.” Hailing from New Jersey with a Master’s Degree from Rutgers University, Roya is as much a Dolly Levi as a woman’s advocate, introducing those within the Women with Pride program to reach out to one another and learn. “I learn every day,” she says. And with that knowledge, so goes the growth of the Women with Pride program which includes screenings and mixers and education seminars that pack the kind of energy that mimics Roya’s own.

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8- HOLAM ANTONETTI – Promoter, Lesbo Go-Go

The energetic and vivacious Holam Antonetti was born in Caracas, Venezuela and moved to Miami when she was 13 years old. She is the promoter of Lesbo Go-Go, a brand of well-attended and fun events that take place at various venues all over South Florida. She recently won the Pink Flamingo Award for Best Promoter. In a cover interview for Ambiente magazine, Holam said, “I love the night life – that everyone takes the time to put themselves together and they come out with the best intentions, wondering what the night will bring. Throughout the night, I love looking around the room and seeing all the different interactions.”

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9- TONI ARMSTRONG JR. — Executive Director of Bi, Lesbian and Straight Together (BLAST) Women of the Palm Beaches

Toni Armstrong Jr. is a long-time LGBT activist, who arrived in Florida via Chicago. In 2008, she founded BLAST (Bi, Lesbian and Straight Together) Women of the Palm Beaches, an organization that brings together females from all races and sexual orientations for fun events aimed at increasing lesbian visibility and equality. Since its inception, BLAST has attracted more than 1600 members and sponsored well over a thousand events by, for, and about women. She founded and runs Empty Closet Productions. Toni likes a good premium cigar, we’re told, as well as live concerts featuring female performers—Judy Rogers is a favorite. “I started the BLAST so that we could have a large, positive, affordable, and easy-to-access women’s community.” From her home in Riviera Beach, with her spouse Janis Kidder, she continues to encourage all women to achieve their individual greatness. “Together we shall go far.”

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