Hello everyone, and welcome to February!!!! I had an amazing January seeing old friends again and meeting new ones. I was fortunate enough to spend a lovely weekend in Arizona, where the hospitality was superb. I toured the desert botanical gardens, had some amazing Mexican food, and was the guest of honor at Barbara Seville's excellence show starring, Savannah Stevens, Nevaeh McKenzie, Barbara Seville, and myself. I also attended Miss Gay Copper City America, a city preliminary to Miss Gay Arizona America, where I was awarded the Symbol of Excellence award by Judith Derriere and TC Taylor. I spoke to Larry shortly after the event and told him how refreshing it is to see that the commitment to excellence is truly being executed in all levels of competition, all across the country. Thank you to the wonder state of Arizona for keeping Miss Gay America alive and thriving on the West Coast. Speaking of the West coast, while in Phoenix, I also got to spend some time with one of our new promoters, James Carden. He will be ushering Miss Gay California America, back into the ranks this coming April. It is really great to see the Miss Gay America system growing again in places such as California, where pageantry has not always thrived. Which brings me to my next topic. For the past 8 years, this time of year something always happens that begins to divide our community. The announcement of the new cast of RuPaul's drag race. I have read countless threads and blogs about which is more important, pageantry, or reality television. Which is the past and which is the future? Which one is more prominent and reputable? So I would like to offer my take. We often forget what female impersonation is.... It is just that, female impersonation. It is a male impersonating a female. Although wearing women's clothing, makeup, and wigs are normally part of it, each impersonator has a choice as to HOW they want to impersonate. Some choose to sing, some choose to dance, some choose to act, and some choose to go on television. I chose pageantry. But I have to accept and support all other avenues of success and we as a community have to stop comparing all forms of female impersonation to each other. It is safe to say the contestant pool at Miss Gay America has not been affected by reality television. You do not see people at the Oscars complaining about the Tony Awards or people at the Emmy's complaining about the Grammy's. They are all ACCOLADES to different forms of entertainment, and all are valid. I look at female impersonation as a large luxury liner floating in an ocean of entertainment. Each day, lots of smaller boats come to luxury liners to supply them with fresh flowers, beautiful women, champagne, caviar, and such. In this sense, those smaller boats are reality television, pageantry, live acting, vocal talent, and much more. If those smaller boats did not come each day that luxury liner would no longer be a luxury liner. It would just become another ship. We as female impersonators are strong, talented, independent entertainers. Female impersonation may be the only form of entertainment where you have to go through a very intimate and personal metamorphosis to even be able to see your beauty, talent, and excellence. I for one am grateful that female impersonator have lots of different choices when wanting to further their career. Not everyone would make a good pageant contestant, just like not everyone would make a good television star. And now days, when someone enters Miss Gay America, I know it is because that is something that they truly see for themselves, and not just because it’s the only thing they can do to be successful. Speaking of success, we are one month away from the official start of the Miss Gay America preliminary season. It kicks off March 6th with the return of another great prelim, Miss Heart of America in St. Louis. I am looking forward to a night of excellence with my MGA sisters and am very excited to see who the first 2 jewels to the crown will be this year. After Heart of America, the ball is really rolling, followed by Missouri, California, Maryland, and Southern Elegance. I don't have to remind anyone to check the official Miss Gay America website for dates and locations. February is the month of love, and I am full of it. I am forever thankful to L&T for trusting me with such a precious gem. And I am thankful to the contestants, my predecessors, and all the promoters for such my love and support thus far. This has been a remarkable experience and I know it is only going to get better. Asia O'Hara Miss Gay America 2016
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AuthorWritten by Miss Gay America 2016 Asia O'Hara! Archives
June 2016
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