Special to Focus Mid-South
The 2026 Focus Awards brought together friends, community leaders, artists, advocates, businesses and organizations for a night of celebration, recognition and plenty of fun Friday, August 21, at Ballet Memphis in Overton Square.
Marking the 10th annual Focus Awards, the evening celebrated a decade of recognizing the people and organizations helping shape the Mid-South LGBTQ+ community. With this year’s theme, “Pride and Progress, Raging Through the 2020s,” the ceremony looked both backward at the people who helped build the community and forward to the people carrying that work into the future.
The evening was hosted by Krista Wright Thayer and Chef Eli Townsend, with entertainment from the Destroyers of Dance Collegiate Adult Dance Team and catering by Chef Eli.
For the second consecutive year, Focus partnered with the MidSouth LGBT Chamber of Commerce to present dedicated awards recognizing excellence in LGBTQ+ business, advocacy and community building.
The partnership reflects a shared commitment to recognizing not only the nonprofit and community leaders who make an impact, but also the entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations creating economic opportunities and strengthening Memphis’ LGBTQ+ community.
The 2026 Focus Awards were generously sponsored by Dr. Thomas Ratliff, Fish & Associates, Tennessee Equality Project, Planned Parenthood of TN and Northern MS, CHOICES, Opera Memphis, the MidSouth LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Ray Rico Freelance.
The evening also marked another year in the long relationship between Focus and Ballet Memphis, which has served as the official home of the Focus Awards for the past several years.
“Every year, this night reminds us why we do this,” said Ray Rico, publisher of Focus MidSouth. “There are so many people doing important work in our community, often without asking for recognition. The Focus Awards give us an opportunity to stop, celebrate them and say thank you.”
Champion of the Year
The Champion of the Year Award recognizes individuals and organizations whose work demonstrates an ongoing commitment to strengthening the community.
This year’s nominees included Randy Truong, Dr. Latrice Pichon,and Lamplighter Lounge, with Dr. Latrice Pichon receiving the award.
Dr. Pichon is a full professor in the University of Memphis School of Public Health and a nationally recognized researcher focused on HIV prevention and health equity. Her work brings together public health research and community partnerships, with a particular emphasis on HIV prevention among Black faith communities. Her work has received support from organizations including the National Institutes of Health, CDC, Gilead Sciences, the Tennessee Department of Health and Shelby County Government.
In 2021, Pichon was honored with both the University of Memphis Research Professorship and the Dr. Roger S. and Mrs. Mary E. LaBonte Endowed Professorship of Urban Health.
Randy Truong, a Memphis community advocate and philanthropist, was also recognized as a finalist. As co-founder of API Memphis, Truong has helped create professional, cultural and community connections for Asian American and Pacific Islander residents while supporting nonprofit relationships and community impact through the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis.
Lamplighter Lounge, a longtime Midtown institution, was recognized for its enduring role as an LGBTQ+-friendly gathering place. Through live music, drag and burlesque, karaoke, dancing and community events, Lamplighter has remained a familiar and welcoming part of Memphis nightlife.
Performer of the Year
The Performer of the Year Award celebrates artists who bring talent, creativity and personality to the Mid-South’s LGBTQ+ community.
The 2026 finalists were Zoey Adams, Sairen Strange and Kaiyla JonVier Dickerson, with Zoey Adams receiving the award.
A Black transgender drag entertainer and community leader, Adams has more than 13 years of experience in Memphis drag. She is the reigning Miss Mid-South Pride 2026 and a former Miss Glamour Memphis.
Beyond performing, Adams has used her platform to create opportunities for other entertainers. She is the creator and producer of Black at It Again, a platform highlighting Black and POC performers and championing greater representation throughout the Mid-South. She has also used her visibility to support community fundraisers benefiting organizations including The Corner and Music City PrEP.
Sairen Strange, a nonbinary drag and performance artist, has developed a distinctive style combining dark cosplay fantasy, draglesque, modeling and pageantry. With six years of performance experience across the Mid-South, Sairen is the reigning Mx Mid-South Pride 2026.
Kaiyla JonVier Dickerson, known onstage as Kaiyla Starr JaDore, is a Memphis drag entertainer and pageant performer recognized for glamour, personality and a celebratory approach to performance. A familiar face at LGBTQ+ events and showcases, including Tri-State Black Pride, Dickerson was named Performer of the Year by Tri-State Black Pride in 2024.
Trailblazer Award
The Trailblazer Award recognizes people whose creativity, advocacy or leadership is helping create new paths for the community.
The finalists were Jordan Ash, Lisa Berry and Vaniel Simmons, with Lisa Berry receiving the award.
Berry is a Memphis-born creative entrepreneur, museum educator and community connector who uses art, food and social experiences to bring people together. As a docent and docent coordinator at the Memphis Art Museum and a member of the Orpheum Theatre Group’s Mission Circle Cohort, she works to make Memphis’ arts community more welcoming and accessible.
Through Lisa Berry Presents, she creates social experiences that connect people while supporting local restaurants, artists and small businesses. Her work with The Queer Kickback and The Planet has also helped create intentional spaces for LGBTQ+ people to connect, celebrate and build community.
Jordan Ash is a Memphis entertainer, singer, songwriter and actor whose original music and performances contribute to the city’s creative and LGBTQ+ arts communities.
Vaniel Simmons is a lifelong queer advocate whose activism began with advocating for transgender students during high school and continued through Rhodes College, where they studied Psychology and Gender-Sexuality Studies. Today, Simmons combines advocacy with writing and photography for Focus, entertainment hosting at DRUS and work with the Community Alliance for the Homeless focused on preventing and ending youth homelessness.
MidSouth LGBT Chamber Advocacy in Business Award
Presented in partnership with the MidSouth LGBT Chamber of Commerce, the Advocacy in Business Award recognizes individuals and organizations using their work, leadership and influence to advance LGBTQ+ equality, health and opportunity.
This year’s finalists were Tennessee Equality Project, Jasmine Tasaki of WeCareTN and Jenieya Peterson of Music City PrEP Clinic. The 2026 award went to Jasmine Tasaki.
Tasaki is a nationally recognized public health leader, nonprofit executive and advocate with more than 15 years of experience advancing health equity, HIV advocacy and LGBTQ+ justice. She is the founder and executive director of WeCareTN and executive director of Black and Pink National, where she leads work supporting communities impacted by HIV, incarceration and systemic inequity. Through national stigma reduction and health equity programs, Tasaki has trained more than 1,000 healthcare providers, advocates and community leaders and was recognized as a POZ 100 honoree for her contributions to HIV advocacy.
Tennessee Equality Project, the state’s LGBTQ+ rights and public policy organization, continues to advocate for equality through legislative advocacy, grassroots organizing, media engagement and public education. Its Memphis roots date to 2006, when the TEP Shelby County Committee was formed, and the organization remains a consistent voice for LGBTQ+ Tennesseans at the state level while bringing the community together through events such as the annual Memphis Gumbo Contest.
Jenieya Peterson is a Memphis sexual health advocate and PrEP navigator who works to connect people with accessible, affirming information and resources for HIV prevention and sexual health. A Rochester, New York native who came to Memphis to attend LeMoyne-Owen College, Peterson has pursued extensive training in sexual health advocacy and leadership, bringing education, awareness and compassion to conversations that are too often surrounded by stigma.
MidSouth LGBT Chamber Bridge Builder Award
The Bridge Builder Award recognizes people and organizations that bring communities together and create opportunities for connection.
This year’s finalists were Mia Saine, The Pumping Station and Mortgage Financial Services, with The Pumping Station receiving the award.
For 25 years, The Pumping Station has been a gathering place for Memphis’ LGBTQ+ community. Located at a site with nearly 50 years of history as a GBTQ+ bar, the Midtown institution understands that a neighborhood bar can be much more than a place to have a drink.
Through music, events, community activities, political engagement, softball and countless opportunities to gather, The Pumping Station continues to provide a space where LGBTQ+ Memphians and allies can build relationships, exchange ideas and simply spend time together.
Mia Saine is an award-winning Black, queer illustrator and designer from Memphis whose vibrant work celebrates diversity, culture and representation. Through collaborations with major brands and community organizations, Saine uses art to amplify marginalized voices and encourage self-expression.
Ryan Knop and Jennifer Ballheimer of Mortgage Financial Services bring a combined 35 years of experience helping people navigate homeownership. Their people-first approach focuses on finding the right financing solution for each client. Ballheimer has been ranked number one in the nation for Customer Satisfaction by Experience.com for two consecutive years, while Knop has been recognized among the Top 500 mortgage professionals nationwide.
MidSouth LGBT Chamber Buddy Douglas Pioneer Award
Presented in partnership with the MidSouth LGBT Chamber of Commerce, the Pioneer Award recognizes individuals whose leadership, service and commitment have helped build and strengthen the LGBTQ+ community over time.
This year’s honorees were Corey Hague of Memphis Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens, the Mystic Krewe of Pegasus and Reverend Edith “Edie” Love. The 2026 Pioneer Award went to Reverend Edith “Edie” Love.
A native Memphian, Reverend Love has spent her life answering a call to justice, equality and compassionate service. That calling began in childhood after she learned that her fifth-grade teacher had died of HIV/AIDS, an experience that helped shape her lifelong commitment to the LGBTQ+ community and to creating a more just and accepting world.
Today, as a Unitarian Universalist community minister and chaplain, Edie provides pastoral care and officiates weddings and memorials, bringing an inclusive and deeply compassionate approach to spiritual care. Her work reflects a belief that everyone deserves a place where they can be seen, supported and free to live and love authentically.
Corey Hague, general manager of Memphis Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens, brings decades of experience and compassionate leadership to helping Memphis families navigate some of life’s most difficult moments. His commitment to professionalism, dignity and care has made him a respected member of the community.
The Mystic Krewe of Pegasus has spent more than two decades bringing Memphis’ LGBTQ+ community together through celebration, fellowship and philanthropy. Founded in 2002 by 12 volunteers, the organization remains the only LGBTQ+ Mardi Gras krewe in the Mid-South and has raised more than $600,000 for LGBTQ+-friendly charities and local causes, including OutMemphis, Friends for All and the Memphis Child Advocacy Center.
Legacy Award: Audrey May
Some contributions cannot be measured by a single event, organization or accomplishment. They are measured by the doors opened, the people welcomed and the history preserved for those who come next.
The 2026 Focus Awards Legacy Award was presented to Audrey May, a pioneering Memphis LGBTQ+ community leader whose decades of advocacy, service and institution-building have helped strengthen the Mid-South’s queer community.
May served on the OUTMemphis board from 2011 through 2017, contributing to an organization that has been an important LGBTQ+ resource in the Mid-South since 1989. Her work helped support the organization’s ongoing role in providing connection, safety, education, resources and community support.
In 2017, May received the OUTMemphis Founders’ Award for outstanding service. She was the first woman to receive the honor and its first recipient since 2009, making the recognition particularly significant.
But May’s legacy extends beyond organizational service. She has also helped preserve and share the history of LGBTQ+ life in Memphis, including participating in a University of Memphis discussion about the city’s early Pride movement.
That work is important because LGBTQ+ history is community history. The people who came before us created the spaces, organizations, celebrations and traditions that continue to shape Memphis today.
May’s legacy is found in those connections and in the community that grew stronger because she chose to participate in building it.
The Legacy Award recognizes Audrey May not simply for what she accomplished, but for the foundation she helped create for those who came after her.
Heart of Gold Award: Anthony “Ladybug” Hardaway
The Heart of Gold Award recognizes a person whose service comes from a genuine commitment to helping others and strengthening the community.
This year’s award was presented to Anthony “Ladybug” Hardaway, a Memphis community advocate whose service to young people and neighborhoods spans more than three decades.
Since 1995, Hardaway has worked to build confidence, leadership, civic responsibility and sound decision-making skills among young people. His approach is rooted in encouragement and the belief that investing in young people is one of the most meaningful ways to create lasting community change.
His work has never been limited to mentorship. Through fashion shows, donation drives, neighborhood cleanups and hands-on volunteer efforts, Hardaway has consistently brought people together around service, creativity and community pride.
He has also played a role in preserving and sharing Memphis LGBTQ+ history, participating in conversations about the early years of Pride in Memphis and helping connect today’s community with the people and experiences that came before it.
There is a common thread throughout Hardaway’s work: making people feel seen.
Whether working with young people, organizing a community event, collecting donations, cleaning up a neighborhood or sharing stories about Memphis’ LGBTQ+ past, he has demonstrated a willingness to show up and serve.
The Heart of Gold Award celebrates that spirit of service and the belief that community is strengthened through countless acts of care.
Publisher’s Award: Zack Orsborn
Each year, the Publisher’s Award provides an opportunity to recognize someone whose work may not fit neatly into another category but who has made a meaningful contribution to the community and to the culture of Memphis.
This year, the Focus Publisher’s Award was presented to Zack Orsborn, a Memphis writer, multidisciplinary artist, creative-energy coach and founder of Like Really Creative.
Orsborn has built Like Really Creative around a simple but powerful idea: creativity is not something reserved for a select group of professional artists. It is something people can practice, protect and build into their everyday lives.
Working across collage, writing, photography and music, Orsborn combines his own creative practice with coaching designed to help artists and non-artists stay connected to creativity and build sustainable creative lives.
Over the past year, that philosophy has translated into an extensive calendar of accessible programming across Memphis.
Through Like Really Creative, Orsborn has created Collage Parties, MUSE Creative Gatherings, CHARGED UP creative-wellness events, the Artist Walking Group, Junk Journal Jams, Inspiration Salons and the Write-On Writing Group.
The Artist Walking Group meets weekly in Overton Park, creating an opportunity for artists and creatives to get outside, observe their surroundings and find inspiration through movement. Monthly MUSE gatherings at Bar DKDC combine workshops, performances, guest speakers and collective art-making.
Like Really Creative has also partnered with Memphis Public Libraries on CHARGED UP, a six-part creative series designed to make creative wellness accessible to the community.
Perhaps most importantly, Orsborn has made affordability and accessibility a central part of his work. Approximately 70 percent of Like Really Creative’s signature programming is offered free to participants, helping remove one of the biggest barriers to creative participation.
For a city whose identity is deeply connected to music, art and creative expression, creating spaces where people can experiment, collaborate and simply play is important community work.
The Publisher’s Award recognizes Zack Orsborn for doing exactly that: creating opportunities for Memphis to be more creative, more connected and more willing to make something new.
People’s Choice Award
Reflecting the voice of the public, the People’s Choice Award recognizes nominees who have resonated with audiences and made a significant impact in their community or industry. These nominees represent the people’s favorites, showcasing the power of connecting with hearts and minds.
The 2026 nominees were Eléanor Kay Rigby, Aubrey Ombre, Jesse James and Joe Zeeben of Memphis Gift Basket, Varia Merritt and Elias Williams. The People’s Choice Award went to Jesse James and Joe Zeeben of Memphis Gift Basket, with proceeds benefiting the Mystic Krewe of Pegasus.
Eléanor Kay Rigby, known as Memphis’ “Original Singing Bartender,” is a performance artist, vocalist and drag entertainer who has spent more than a decade bringing glamour, humor and powerhouse live performance to Memphis nightlife. Her work also promotes LGBTQ+ visibility and HIV-status awareness.
Aubrey Ombre is a Memphis transgender drag entertainer, DJ, karaoke host and longtime LGBTQ+ activist. A former Miss Dru’s Place, Miss Mid-South Pride and Miss Gay Memphis, she has spent more than a decade performing, mentoring emerging talent and supporting local charitable causes.
Jesse James and Joe Zeeben are the co-owners of Memphis Gift Basket, a locally owned gifting company creating curated baskets that celebrate Memphis products, flavors and businesses. The pair are expanding their online retailer into an Uptown storefront and fresh market while continuing to support local makers and the Memphis community.
Tavaria “Varia” Merritt is a transgender woman and LGBTQ+ advocate who helped found Be the Change LGBTQ+, the first openly LGBTQ+ community in the Tennessee prison system. Through peer support, writing and organizing, Merritt advocates for the safety, dignity, housing and well-being of incarcerated LGBTQ+ people.
Elias Williams serves as co-vice president of Mid-South Pride, helping lead one of Memphis’ largest LGBTQ+ community celebrations. Through Pride programming and public advocacy, Williams works to promote visibility, belonging and support for LGBTQ+ people throughout the Mid-South.
Ten Years of Focus
The 2026 Focus Awards were more than an awards ceremony. They were a reflection of a decade of community.
Since the first Focus Awards, the event has grown into an annual opportunity to recognize people whose work often happens outside the spotlight. The honorees represent many different parts of Memphis life, from public health and advocacy to nightlife, business, entertainment, art, spirituality and community service.
That diversity is part of what makes the evening meaningful.
There is no single way to contribute to a community.
Sometimes it looks like standing before the Tennessee General Assembly and advocating for equality. Sometimes it looks like helping someone navigate a mortgage, providing HIV prevention resources, mentoring a young person or creating a place where people can dance and be themselves.
Sometimes it is performing onstage.
Sometimes it is preserving history.
Sometimes it is simply opening the door and making sure someone knows they belong.
The Focus Awards exist to recognize all of it.
The evening would not have been possible without the generous support of Dr. Thomas Ratliff, Fish & Associates, Tennessee Equality Project, Planned Parenthood, Choices, Opera Memphis, the MidSouth LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Ray Rico Freelance.
Special thanks also go to Rubi Gomez and Eileen Hogan, Chef Eli Townsend, Ballet Memphis, hosts Krista Wright Thayer and Julie Nouwen, and Daphne Butler for their contributions to making the evening possible.
As Focus enters its second decade of the Focus Awards, the message remains much the same as it was when the celebration began: community deserves to be seen.
Ten years later, there are more stories to tell, more people to celebrate and more progress to make.
And if the 2026 Focus Awards demonstrated anything, it is that Memphis’ LGBTQ+ community continues to bring its own particular combination of pride, creativity, resilience and joy into the future.
Ten years of Pride.
Ten years of progress.
And still raging through the 2020s.
