PRINCIPAL CAST

Karamo Brown made history as the first gay Black American to appear on a reality show, MTV Real World - Philadelphia, in 2005. He is a television host, reality television personality, author, actor and activist. He has worked as the on-air host and producer for OWN (The Oprah Winfrey Network), Huffington Post Live and BET. He is a single father, LGBTQ and human rights advocate. He starred as the culture expert in the Netflix series Queer Eye. In September 2022, Brown began hosting an eponymous talk show titled Karamo for NBCUniversal. He talks about growing up with an intolerant Jamaican Rastafarian father, being aware of his identity from an early age, his masculine privilege, and his work with the LGBTQ community.

Staceyann Chin's "activist driven" work was published in The New York Times and The Washington Post. She was featured on 60 Minutes and The Oprah Winfrey Show. She performed and co-wrote the Tony-nominated Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. She has appeared in Off-Broadway one-woman shows and has held poetry workshops worldwide. Her memoir "The Other Side of Paradise" was published in 2009. She talks about being “corrective raped” while at university in Jamaica and fleeing to the US.

Dominique Jackson is a transgender actress known for being one of the leads (Elektra) featured in the groundbreaking Ryan Murphy created TV series Pose (2018-2021) and the Whoopi Goldberg produced reality show STRUT. She became a part of the underground house/ball scene and later the NYC LGBTQ entertainment and pageantry scenes, winning six titles and competing at the national level. She has received numerous awards in the house/ball scene and for her activism. Her memoir "The Transsexual from Tobago" was published in 2014. She talks about the many layers of her life, overcoming obstacles and having triumphs.

Maurice Tomlinson is an Attorney-at-law and former law lecturer at the University of the West Indies. In 2011,  a Jamaican newspaper published his wedding picture with his husband, he fled Jamaica after receiving death threats. He works with the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and travels around the Caribbean providing human rights documentation and advocacy training for groups working with LGBTQ individuals. He is challenging Jamaica's anti-gay Sodomy Law and the founder of Montego Bay Pride.

Laith Ashley grew up in Harlem, NY. He got his break in Barneys New York's landmark ad campaign, "Brothers, Sister, Sons & Daughters" in spring 2014, months after he began his FTM medical transition. He has a degree in Psychology from Fairfield University and made history by being the first Trans model to appear on the cover of Attitude magazine (UK) June 2016 issue. He is signed with Slay Model Management and is featured on the Oxygen Network reality show STRUT.

Tasheka Lavann worked as a Journalist and TV news anchor for ten years in Antigua. She is the 2007 Miss Antigua and Barbuda and 2004 Miss Leeward Islands Teens. Her story looks at how she was demoted from public figure status when she came out as lesbian, being harassed by police officers, stalked and almost killed, which forced her to seek asylum in Toronto.

Orlando Ferrand moved to New York City in his late teens and became an instant New Yorker. He is a graduate of City College, Parsons and Columbia University. He teaches creative writing and visual arts at numerous colleges and universities. He shares about living a concealed identity while growing up in Cuba and embracing his LGBTQ identity in New York City.

Dr. Pei Desrosiers is a seasoned behavioral health therapist, licensed social work Clinician and an ordained minister. Her work explores the intersections of Mental Health and Psycho-Spiritual Therapy. She is the co-parent of her son Zachary with a private practice in Brooklyn Heights, NY. She talks about the relationship LGBTQ people of color and Caribbean has with Christianity, and finding a space that embraces their intersectionality.

Bradford Branch studied fashion illustration and design at the Fashion Institute of Technology and plied his skills as a pattern maker, fashion illustrator, assistant designer and boys wear designer. He is a painter, print maker and draftsman. He has lectured as a visiting artist at Columbia's teacher college and Barnard College. His facilitates a Same Gender Loving group. He shares his experience growing up in a Barbadian household and community where he did not experience homophobia and was gives allowances to live his truth.

 Dr. Andrine Constant is the owner and medical director of a small primary care practice, Whole Care, LLC, located in Salem, MA. She is a board-certified family physician who provides primary care services to patients of all ages, with a focus on prevention and chronic disease management. She is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Creole. She shares her journey of being a closet lesbian feminist activist while in Haiti and coming out when her gay brother committed suicide.

Vionet Montano was born in NYC and raised in the DR. In the early 90s, she came to Boston as a young woman and later returned to attend college, as a full-blown lesbian. The first thing she noticed in the LGBTQ community was the lack of diversity in the social events. Since 2010 she has been hosting event that caters to Black/Latino LGBTQ Caribbean residents in the Boston metro area under the promotional name @Buenas_Ent. They have participated in the Black/Latino Pride Boston Pride since 2015. She shares her story of having an accepting mother, changing the visibility of LGBTQ Caribbean folks in Boston, and finding her wife.

Desmond Cox is a founding member of United & Strong, Inc., St. Lucia's only LGBT organization. In 2001 he volunteered with the AIDS Action Foundation. He has been working in the hospitality industry since 2007 before relocating to Toronto in 2010 where he attended the Academy of Learning College, earning two diplomas in hospitality management. He shares his harrowing experience of witnessing the murder of his gay friend in St. Lucia and seeking asylum in Toronto.

Skyler Manchoon has worked in advertising, airline, social security funding, and HIV patient housing before working for the city. He is a former dancer who has performed throughout North America and the Caribbean. He shares his journey of being closeted, experience with internalized homophobia, attempting suicide and having a supportive father that accepted his realized identity.

Danilo De La Torre aka Adora is a trained classical ballet dancer who has worked in musical theater and cabaret from the age of seventeen. He fled Cuba for Paris to join Le Ballet Theatre de la Seine. In 1988 he relocated to Miami Beach and Adora was born. He is an iconic drag artist whose extraordinary wigs, makeup, and captivating stage presence made his/her the undisputed "Queen of South Beach."

Arnela Ten Meer received a BFA in dance, is a graduate of the Swedish Institute of NYC, and a licensed massage therapist. As former dancer and actor, she performed in Curacao with Grupo di Baile Afro-Caribense and in NYC in several off-Broadway plays. She is the former assistant manager of The Lola Luis Creative and Performing Arts Center Inc. (CAPAS) and the coordinator of the Rainbow Task Force at the Unitarian Church in Westport, CT. She is a dedicated wife, stepparents, and a proud homemaker. She shares the shame of being regarded as LGBTQ, even though her island is more accepting by law of its LGBTQ citizens.

Amie Wells received her BA in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and her master’s degree in Multicultural Mental Health Counseling from Boston College with post graduate work as a bilingual family therapist. She runs an online retail business selling afro urban inspired clothing and accessories. She discusses the fluidity of her sexuality being a self-described lesbian with bisexual tendencies.

Antonio Biaggi Davila has been in the porn industry for many years and has shot over 100 videos. He is the owner/producer of Biaggi Videos featuring videos of him and other Latino porn actors. He also owns Hush Spa in Wilton Manors. He is married to a man and he shares his journey from being asexual to working in porn, having an accepting mother and the liberties of exploring his identity.

Tatiana Ferguson is an active advocate for the inclusion of trans people and people of color in community programs and services. She facilitates discussions on sex and gender, HIV, self-care, and a support group called Perception" at Egale Youth OUTreach. She creates a space for new residents to vocalize their experience with integrating into Canada. She has a diploma in Business Administration and a passion for social work. She shares her evolution of transitioning, and her challenges.