FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Cathy Renna
Communications Director, National LGBTQ Task Force, [email protected], 917-757-6123 (to attend the event as credentialed media, information about arrivals and program or to receive select photos after the event contact Cathy Renna)
Miami, FL, October 7, 2025……This Saturday, October. 11, the annual National LGBTQ Task Force Gala: Be You Ball will take place at the Diplomat Hotel Resort in Hollywood, FL. The event coincides with National Coming Out Day.
Dominique Jackson, trans ballroom icon, activist and actress, will host this year’s gala. Jackson expressed her excitement to emcee the event, recognizing the convening as an act of resistance.
“When we all gather together, we’re saying to each other ‘It’s not only okay to be us, it’s our right to be us,’” Jackson said in a recent conversation with the Task Force. “When we dance and we celebrate in the midst of everything happening to us, it’s one of the biggest forms of protest.”
Jackson will be returning to the signature event, as she was awarded the National Leadership Award during the 2023 Gala. Task Force President Kierra Johnson expressed her thrill and gratitude for Jackson to return to the organization to lead the gala with her fierceness, wit, and grace.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dominique back to the Task Force for our very first Be You Ball, a time to highlight and celebration queer joy. Dominique’s presence embodies what this event stands for: authenticity and power,” Johnson said. “Dominique’s alluring charisma and unapologetic love for the trans and queer community will shine brightly as she hosts this year’s gala for The Task Force.”
David Jobin, CEO of the Our Fund Foundation, will be awarded the Eddy McIntyre Community Service Award for his indelible contributions in 20 years of service to the queer community, blending theater, art, and activism. “I am deeply honored to receive the Eddy McIntyre Community Service Award from the National LGBTQ Task Force, an organization whose relentless advocacy has shaped and strengthened our community for decades,” Jobin said.
Hosted on National Coming Out Day, this year’s Be You Ball Gala pays homage to ballroom culture and its contributions to queer identity through fashion, activism and resilience. The Gay Men Chorus of South Florida will perform.
Ballroom performers of South Florida’s queer community will light up the stage, including T.P. Lords, Athena Dion, mother of House of Dion, and former Miss Florida Tayanna Love. Miss Continental 2026 Gadfrie Arbulu and Miss Continental Newcomer Joey Young take the stage as the pageantry network returns to the gala.
Tickets and sponsorships are still available for purchase. If interested, please visit the Task Force website.
About the National LGBTQ Task Force
The National LGBTQ Task Force builds power, takes action, and creates change to achieve freedom, justice, and equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. As the progressive voice of the LGBTQ movement and the LGBTQ voice of the progressive movement, the National LGBTQ Task Force organizes people and money in pursuit of liberation for all.
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