In 2017, thousands of participants, spectators and leaders from around the globe will travel to Miami for World OutGames IV. This ten-day event will bring to life more than 450 events across three areas: sports, culture and human rights. World OutGames Miami promises to ‘challenge attendees physically, stimulate them intellectually and enliven them emotionally.’

Leading the charge in bringing this larger-than-life event to South Florida is long-time community advocate Ivan Cano. As Chief Executive Officer of the World OutGames, Cano was instrumental in fighting for it to be hosted in Miami. One of our ‘Movers and Shakers’ profiled in last year’s inaugural round up of Florida’s 100 brightest LGBT community members, we had the opportunity to dive deeper with Cano. We discussed the path to where he is today, the fight he fought to bring the OutGames to Miami, and his true opinion on all things body and soul.

In his late teens, Cano started working for the Gay Games in 1994. Beginning as a volunteer, he soon became a staff member and worked there for about a year. “That experience really set me off on this path to be an activist,” he told us. “Seeing the absolute pure joy of people being out and open to be themselves in the mid-90s and bringing their best to the table. Obviously at that time we didn’t have social media or internet that branched me to Europeans or Asians or South Americans. Here, it was a global event where all these people came out of the woodwork and got to meet and create relationships and friendships during those times. That really cemented all of the feelings and passions to bring me to nonprofit work.”

The next important event in Canos’s development as an activist and community leader was attending the 1994 National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change. The National LGBTQ Task Force organizes the annual conference, a skills-building event for community and allies with over 2,000 attendees each year.

From the Boston to New York AIDS Ride to Gavin Newsom’s mayoral campaign in San Francisco, Cano spent the next years of his career focusing on non-profit and activism work for the LGBT community across the nation. At one point, he faced a crossroad, whether to pursue politics or stay in the non-profit sector while working in hospitality. He chose the latter.

“I felt like there was a missing link in my heart as I was getting a little older. I realized what are my next steps after accomplishing so much in New York, San Francisco, and London? I realized that I should be doing more for my culture. I decided to move to Miami. It was warm, it was Latin, and it was right up my alley! But once I moved, little did I know that I was starting from scratch.”

After acclimating to his new community, he quickly became involved in many different initiatives and local organizations including Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade and Festival. While chairing at the Miami Beach LGBT Business Enhancement Committee, Cano raised an important question when he saw something was missing from the local LGBT community in Miami.

“I always had a question in the back of my mind; why aren’t we doing anything with sports here? I spoke with some key leaders and they said that it was possible but it would take a lot of time and money. Money is the key factor and energy.  After I landed here in Miami, I always asked the question: what if? What if? Why can’t we? Why can’t we? I like to push the button and I kept trying to push it but no one listened to me so I dropped it.”

However, the desire to bring something sports related for the LGBT community in Miami was still in the back of his mind. Then a meeting at the Convention Center changed all of that. “One thing led to another and within two hours we brought up that same question, what if we could bring the WorldOut games here? Because the bidding was still in the cycle and we could apply. After that conversation with Bruce Townsend and Jerry Torres, that ‘what if’ became a two month race to build a board, create a bid, get people to buy into it and the rest is history.”

Licensed by the Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association, the World OutGames Miami 2017 will be held throughout Miami – Dade County.  Half of it if not more will be in Miami Beach, where the games main village will be located. Other venues being used or looked at are the Convention Center, Flamenco Park, FIU, Downtown Miami, and Tamiami Park.

The OutGames not only welcomes all levels of athletes to participate, but also members from outside the LGBT community as well. “First and foremost, the games are open to anyone. Gay, straight, transgender, lesbian, bisexual, intersex, anybody under the sun. Everyone is welcome to come because we aren’t gonna ask that question first and foremost. If are going to talk about a global event and diversity and unity, we have to stop drawing the lines and invite everyone with a true sportsmanship spirit. Bring your best and be your best.”

Cano cites the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority and Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau helping and supporting the important endeavor to bring more LGBT people to the community – not only for the OutGames but all year long.

Cano wants the games to transform people’s perspective on sports, taking the possible negative experiences from childhood and develop them into positive experiences and life long relationship.  “Some of us have had a very negative experience with sports back in grammar school or high school. Being the person who was picked last because your body was funny or you looked funny or you were awkward or you were just different. Here, it is about turning something negative into a positive.”

I related my recent experience of trying to transform my body, but Cano quickly reminds me that we are much more than that. “It’s so interesting you mention physical body. At the end of the day, your mind and soul is really what makes you the person you are. Not your body. That is just an after affect. Being in a positive space where you are going to bring your best and have fun is what we are trying to do here. It’s competitive but it’s a bonding experience. It fills your bucket of friendships. That is one of the beauties of sports.  It’s another avenue to be your best.”

For more information on the World OutGames Miami 2017, please visit www.outgames.org.

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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!!

START SLIDESHOW>>

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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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Believing that the best part of your life is ahead of you and that the best way to have a great life is to always be that person who makes people feel great and know that they are important. It’s amazing how many wonderful relationships are built mutually on this concept of living.

2. What are your favorite qualities in a person?

Never quitting or making excuses when things do not go well. Believing that the “No’s” we are told in life as we pursue our dreams are just the necessary steps to a big “YES,” which equates to our dreams coming true. Thomas Edison failed 2,000 times when he tried to create the light bulb. Then it happened. He said the 2,000 times showed him 2,000 ways the light bulb would not work. It was just a matter of time for him to find the “YES,” and now we have lights!

3. What do you appreciate most in your friends?

When they recognize that I really care for them and about how their lives are going.

4. What is your main fault?

I dream up what I feel is a great idea, and then sometimes leave the follow through process too early in the project to someone who does not have the skills to execute. Consequently I end up having to do what I do not do best: day to day execution, which ultimately hurts project. Today I make sure I have the best team possible in place to execute so ideas can FLOURISH. I believe I have done that with Multimedia Platforms, LLC over the last 60 days and the results are telling me this is true.

5. What is your favorite occupation?

When I played professional tennis all over the world from the time I was 17 until I was 25. Now, trying to build an international LGBT media company is like winning the U.S. Open: I love it!

6. What is your idea of misery?

When I was younger I would feel scared and nervous about my future. Now I feel misery when I feel I am not reaching my true potential, both as a loving partner to Brian [Neal] or in business. I work on doing my best every day to be the best partner in my personal life and the best leader in my businesses.

7. If not yourself, who would you be?

As a tennis player in the 80s, it would have been Jimmy Connors. As a real estate investor in the 90s and 2000s, it would be Donald Trump. As a publisher and media executive, it would be Oprah Winfrey.

8. Who are your favorite authors?

Joel Osteen, Robert Schuller.

9. Who are your heroes in real life?

My mom, who died when I was 18. She started in me in tennis when I was eight. She taught me to always work the hardest, dream the biggest and never quit. My tennis coach, Nick Bollettieri. He convinced me I could do anything I wanted to in life. I believed him then and I still do.

10. What is your present state of mind?

I feel so energized and blessed to have the opportunity to live as the person God put on this earth. Most of my life I battled my sexual orientation. Today I am out and free with an incredible life partner who understands me and loves me for exactly me.

11. What is your personal motto?

HEAD UP AND SHOULDERS BACK.” Having a “gratitude list” that I work on every week has kept me focused on my strengths and my struggles.

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