SFGN Out 50 2015

Excerpt from SFGN - March 4, 2015

https://southfloridagaynews.com/Community/lee-rubin-the-philanthropist.html

Welcome to SFGN’s second OUT50 list. When we decided last year to come up with this list we thought it would be difficult putting together enough names. It turned out the difficult part was narrowing it down to only 50 individuals.

This year we again we found ourselves having to narrow the list down, for there are just too many LGBT people in South Florida that are making a difference.

SFGN is proud to tell these folks’ stories and honor them in this year’s OUT50 list. Stories of business leaders like Steve Haas, owner of City Hall the Restaurant in Miami, and Nicole Waters, Director of Marketing for Bill Ussery Motor’s Group; trans activists like Sabrine Johnston and Heather Wright; lawyers like Lea Krauss and Jason Gibson; and other leaders like Jason King, an HIV activist, and Carla Silva, an LGBT youth advocate.

These folks aren’t important because they are LGBT, they’re important because of their accomplishments and the work they do. But because they are LGBT they serve as role models for our community — and for future generations. These individuals prove that we are no longer a sideshow, but nowadays, the main show.

Editing these stories once again inspired me and I hope their stories will inspire you as well.

So welcome to the SFGN 2015 South Florida OUT50, a list of activists, business leaders, movers and shakers, spiritual leaders, and other out and proud members of the local LGBT community.

Lee Rubin - The Philanthropist

As a boy growing up in Philadelphia, Lee Rubin remembers helping his mother deliver meals on wheels for those in need.

“My parents instilled in me the importance of giving back in the community,” Rubin said.

A philanthropist extraordinaire, Rubin lived in Washington, D.C. for many years, getting his start in volunteerism by stuffing envelopes for the Human Rights Campaign. He rose quickly inside the beltway, elected co-chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation in 2009 and appointed chair of the Task Force’s 401c3 Action Fund the following year.

Rubin moved to South Florida a few years ago and has settled in Fort Lauderdale with his husband, Jim Walker. The couple is enjoying a renewed community spirit after years in DC. Rubin was a development committee chair at the Pride Center and a board member of Our Fund where he helps raise thousands of dollars for non-profit organizations. Professionally, Rubin is a savvy social networker who runs a blog dedicated to promoting LGBT events in South Florida.

“You could say giving back is baked into my DNA,” Rubin said.

Professionally, Rubin is a senior manager in global reference programs at Citrix. He married Walker, his partner of 18 years, in January.