Tamara Leigh’s focus is intersectionality. The New York native and St. Petersburg local says her work centers on it.
Leigh tries to create safer environments “for the BIPOC community in queer spaces, for BIPOC, queer and trans folks in general spaces and QTPOC folks in primarily Black spaces.” She does so personally and professionally as the editor of Blaque/OUT Magazine while running Blaque/OUT Equity and Inclusivity Architects.
It’s there that she consults on diversity and inclusion with organizations, businesses, universities and municipalities, working with boards, leadership and staff members to make a difference.
Leigh is also board president of the Tampa Bay Black Lesbians, the nonprofit working to empower the BIPOC LGBTQ+ community. If that weren’t enough, she also serves on the board for Love the Golden Rule and is helping plan Global Black Pride 2026, set for September in Paris.
Still, Leigh says she was shocked by this year’s honor.
“Being an activist and advocate is who I am,” she explains. “Fighting for my community, especially the intersectional community pumps through my veins.” While the work is “exhausting, draining and often thankless,” she muses, being recognized is also “so incredibly special and humbling.”
“I’m just so grateful to be seen after only being a part of this community for such a short time,” Leigh notes. “If you can’t make an impact, you aren’t living in your purpose.”
Finding that purpose is something she encourages others to do. “Now is not a time that we can afford to be silent … people sometimes think staying quiet and living off the radar ensures their safety,” she notes. “The truth is, we aren’t safe. Our lives, our love, our existence isn’t safe anywhere in this state or in this country … we have to dig up the strength and fortitude to be visible and to fight boldly.”
She encourages marginalized voices to “say the hard things, let go of respectability politics and fight for ourselves but also our neighbors.” If you aren’t sure how, Leigh’s ready to show you.
Read more about the 2026 WONDER Awards here.
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