 February 4, 2016
In February 2005, ironically, 11 years ago today, when we purchased this pageant system from Norma Kristie, Inc., we made a commitment to any and all involved that when the baton is passed to the next owner, it will be evident that the legacy left behind by L & T Entertainment will be that we left the pageant system in a much improved condition compared to the condition of the system when we first purchased it. Mission accomplished! Whether or not you are a fan of L & T Entertainment, there is no denying that during the past 11 years, we worked tirelessly to improve the pageant system and sustain the incomparable legacy and reputation that it is known for. Granted we may have sometimes stumbled along the way but all things considered, we were true to our commitment and are pleased with our results and the brand that so many of us hold dearly. We announced in 2013 that we were seeking a purchaser for the pageant system however we would not sell to just anyone who had money to spend. In fact, we have declined several offers to purchase simply because we did not think that some of the potential buyers had the best interest of the pageant system in mind. We also made it clear that until we sold the pageant system, it would be business as usual. We remained true to our word. And now, it is time to pass the baton to someone else. We searched for someone who we thought would be able to not only sustain the hard work that we and so many others invested into this system, but also, someone who may perhaps take the system to even a higher plateau. We are confident that we have found the right team to continue the legacy all the while searching for new ways to grow the system in a positive direction. Effective immediately, the ownership of the Miss Gay America pageant system is transferred to MAD Angel Entertainment which is owned by Michael Dutzer and Rob Mansman. They may be somewhat new to the Miss Gay America organization but they are not new to pageantry and entertainment production. We have offered to loan to them our experience, knowledge and expertise and trust that they choose to call on us for guidance in anyway needed. The contact information for MAD Angel Entertainment is as follows: Address: P.O. Box 3447 Frederick, MD 21701 Email: americapageant@gmail.com Cellular telephone: Michael Dutzer- 202.246.0508 Cellular telephone: Rob Mansman- 301.996.8684 Effective immediately, please feel free to contact MAD Angel Entertainment/Michael and Rob as necessary, via the contact information above. To Michael and Rob, we sincerely wish you the very best of luck and commit to assisting you in any way possible. We trust that you will take good care of this pageant organization because there are so many of us who jealously guard its legacy. Thank you for wanting to insert your heart, effort, energy, money and talents to continue such a spectacular thing that means so many different things to so many people. To Miss Gay America 2016 Asia O'Hara, we thank you for choosing the Miss Gay America pageant system. You did something that only 2 others in history accomplished and that is that you were crowned Miss Gay America on your first trip to the national competition as a contestant. We believe that all things happen for a reason and we must trust in our beliefs that of the pool of 54 contestants, you were chosen as the one to lead the masses into the transition of new ownership... and for that we are thankful. Please know that we are here if you should ever need to call on us for any reason. Our ear, shoulder and experience is yours as much as you shall need. To the Promoters, we have accumulated what we think to be the finest team of Promoters in the country. You believed in us enough to invest in this organization and we sincerely thank you for trusting in us enough to invest your valuable resources. Many of you are more than simply Promoters, you are friends and we are so very thankful that our paths have crossed with each and every one of you. We pray that you will entrust Michael and Rob in the same manner as you did with us. Please know that as we made a decision as to whom we declared eligible to purchase this organization, we made such decision with your key interest in mind. To the Forever Miss Gay America titleholders, thank you all for what you have contributed to this incredible organization. You are all unique and without your contribution to this pageant system, the legacy would not be nearly as strong nor respected as it is today in that each of you have shown the world what it is to be the "best of the best". While each of you hold a special place in our hearts, we were blessed with 12 amazing entertainers that wanted so badly to become Miss Gay America and we were fortunate that you were able to reign during the L & T administration. We were so blessed by each of the "L & T girls"... Thank you to Raquel, Nicole, Luscious, Mikaila, Victoria, Coco, Coti, Kirby, Sally, Jessica, Blair and Asia... for making this journey so much better because we not only had the pleasure of working closely with you but also bonding in our partnership with you. Most importantly we were able to acquire 12 new friends along the way for which we will never forget our unique bonds that we share with each of you... We pray that you will look back on your reign in a few years and realize that the structure and discipline that is in place made you a better person and a better entertainer which prepared you to be the Symbol of Excellence that the world expected you to be! We will be forever grateful that we were able to share such closeness with you that few people in the world will ever get the pleasure of experiencing. Thank you for not giving up on your dream! To the contestants, NEVER give up... something worth having is worth fighting for... being Miss Gay America is a privilege denied to many more people than were ever afforded the privilege to become it. For those of you who have the dream, while the dream may never die, most of you will give up on your dream long before you maximize your potential. But to those who will actually achieve their dream of becoming Miss Gay America, we beg you to never take the privilege for granted and never let your ego overshadow your humility. Thank you for wanting to be part of something that is so much larger than any one ego. Many have us have worked and sacrificed much and to those of you who will go on to capture their dream, we pray that you will preserve and strengthen the legacy! To the audience, thank you for choosing to support this art form and more importantly, thank you for embracing the values of the Miss Gay America organization. You are why we do what we do! We only hope that you will forevermore continue to support this great thing that we call the Miss Gay America pageant. In closing, we pray that each of you are proud of the Miss Gay America organization and what it means to each of us! Managing this pageant system has certainly not been easy but it is rewarding to know that we have contributed to something that is so meaningful to most in our gay community. We were honored to be part of gay history in serving as the third owner of the Miss Gay America organization and somewhere along our journey, we pray that we have made many of you as proud as many of you have made us! Until we meet again, Larry Tyger and Terry W. Eason L & T Entertainment  The Preparedness Of a Miss Gay America…Preparations For Another Great Pageant Season… We have heard it, for now the 12th time, that the job of Miss Gay America is much more demanding and in depth than anticipated. Granted being Miss Gay America is a humbling and very rewarding experience but it is also a job filled with responsibilities. Being an entertainer, a mentor, a counselor and a coach is only part of the expectations that accompany the crown but also being an administrator is a huge part of the job responsibility. Being THE administrator is not a job that this national office takes lightly. In fact, we depend on the reigning Miss Gay America to help us administratively so that it makes the year of all involved a much smoother one. With such dependency comes much preparation that not many get to experience. We begin the schooling process of Miss Gay America immediately after coronation. Such schooling is something that Promoters should do with their new titleholders so as to ensure a much easier year ahead. The schooling process is a blend of real life scenarios and war stories combined with knowledge and understanding of rules and regulations. While the national office may not know everything about every issue that occurs, we possess great historical knowledge and remedy to be able to make decisions to handle most every issue that occurs. As such, we have a very thorough “questions and essay-type answer” process whereby the reigning Miss Gay America is asked to answer more than 100 questions that will be very beneficial to have the fore-thought about various issues before they occur, thus allowing Miss Gay America to make a spur of the moment decision, as necessary. In fact, while the question and essay answer exercise is very time consuming, it has proven to be among the most valuable schooling we can provide. Then, when combined with the face-to-face Retreat that we host with the reigning Miss Gay America, all preparedness will be complete and the newly crowned Miss Gay America will be ready and equipped to fulfill the job responsibilities. As we continue to say, the pageantry business is very cyclical, especially for this national office. Seemingly we are constantly in search for the next Miss Gay America while simultaneously aiding the reigning Miss Gay America to hopefully have one of the best years of her life. With the blend of our orientation efforts and a positive attitude and willingness to be a good administrator, each and every pageant season will be a good one. Our commitment to EXCELLENCE in this pageant organization is our part in sustaining the legacy. It is our hope and prayer that so long as we own this incredible brand, that the Panel of Judges continue to hand deliver to us an individual who wants to have a meaningful reign and not just to have another crown in their curio cabinet. With such preparedness, we anticipate another great pageant season. Until next time, Larry and Terry  Pageantry…
It is show business to some, while to other’s it’s carrying on a tradition, strengthening a heritage, continuing a legacy, becoming part of something that is much greater than oneself, an avenue to sustain a career, reaching a lifetime dream, a way to give back,… and yes, to some it may even be just another “notch in the belt” or a crown in the curio cabinet… Regardless of what pageantry is to you, we trust that all understand the dedication and importance of volunteering to become involved in something and the work it takes to conform to the expectations of the world. While pageantry is many things to many people, most do not understand the amount of effort and energy it takes to produce a pageant, especially when it is something as grand as the Miss Gay America Pageant or even the Miss Universe Pageant. Seemingly, the most common question asked to this national office these days is inquiry of comment relative to the terrible incident that recently occurred at the Miss Universe competition. As we all know too well, Pageant Host Steve Harvey “misread” the cue card and inadvertently announced the incorrect winner. And to make matters worse, the erroneous announcement was then followed by Miss Colombia immediately crowned as Miss Universe 2015. Then, when the error was discovered, the correct announcement was made whereby Miss Philippines (the actual winner of the pageant), the crown was removed from the head of Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines (the actual winner) was then crowned as Miss Universe 2015. As we acknowledge the pageantry is many things to many people, among the many things to describe pageantry by this national office is show business or an epic production. Thankfully, the Miss Gay America organization has not experienced, on the national level, the incorrect person named as winner only then to, shortly after the “winner” was announced, remove the crown and coronate another. Sadly we did experience having to terminate the position of one (on the national level) but we were very blessed that the newly crowned Miss Gay America reigned supreme. As I sat there watching history in the making, I acquired a sinking and nauseated feeling. It was a horrible and tragic moment for Pageant Host Steve Harvey and the Miss Universe organization but also for the two very beautiful young ladies who proud wore their country’s crown. As devastating and heart breaking as the moment was to both Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines, the right thing to do was exactly as the action taken by the Miss Universe organization which was to “right the wrong” and correct the error. Unfortunately the error happened but the nature of show business should be adaptation, including the immediate remedy of an error. While this national office does not always win the popular vote with everyone relative to our decisions, we always act in the best interest of the pageant system and based on the knowledge we have, the Miss Universe organization acted in the their best interest too. When one is working in a live show-business type environment, anything can happen. Hopefully there are plenty of checks and balance in place to prevent such mistakes but the fact remains that Steve Harvey is human and clearly subject to making mistakes. While we are not completely convinced that the incident was not a publicity stunt, the incident happened and at the expense of more than one person. No promoter wants such an issue to occur. Every promoter should want to remedy the wrong, even at the expense of embarrassment, public distrust and immediate scuttlebutt, especially among the naysayers. However, no matter the reason that caused the incident, there are rules to define what is required in order to win the competition. If one does what is required and the panel of Judges reward accordingly, it is the responsibility of the promoter to ensure that the crown is placed on the correct person. Regardless of whether or not a promoter likes the outcome of the pageant, job one is to deliver a fair and honest contest that will retain patrons and acquire new supporters. It is mission critical that the promoters, on all levels, follow-through with guidelines of the organization including a remedy of any situation, even if the remedy is painful on many levels. So, while we are heartbroken for Miss Colombia-for being crowned as winner then quickly declared as 1st alternate, Miss Philippines-for not getting to experience the true “crowning moment”, for Pageant Host Steve Harvey-for getting so caught in the moment that he apparently and simply made an incorrect announcement and the Miss Universe organization-for having to experience such a horrible moment especially when the pageant, earlier in the year, recently changed ownership. We commend the Miss Universe organization for correcting the mistake and immediately crowning the actual winner, rather than making concessions to the contestant (Miss Colombia) who was first and inadvertently declared as Miss Universe 2015. We also commend Pageant Host Steve Harvey, for not getting so submerged in the public negativity that he would opt to retaliate with negativity but instead he admitted mistake, apologized for the mistake and carried himself in a publicly professional manner thereafter. It should be the fear of all Promoters and Pageant Officials that this issue could occur which is why this national office works on a daily basis to find way to create and enforce regulation that only yields a more efficient pageant for all involved, including Emcees. The job of promoter, especially that of the national promoter, is seemingly thankless at times but promoters should never let their guard relax but rather to always be alert and keep a strong rule on all facets of the pageant process, from beginning to ending. As we recently witnessed, what was a beautiful and entertaining production was all negated by a seemingly routine announcement. Again, show business to some but hopefully and more importantly, something meaningful, to those who want to become it. Therefore those who produce a pageant have obligation to those who want to be part of it and those who want to be part of it have obligation to those who produce it… thus the catch phrase “teamwork”! We hope that each of you have a spectacular new year. This national office plans to, during the new year, continue to deliver the best in pageantry including continuation to ready Miss Gay America 2016 Asia O’Hara to be the very Symbol of Excellence for which many of us expect. We look forward to another incredible year of pageantry and thank all who support this incredible organization that we so proudly call, “The Miss Gay America Pageant”. Until next time, Larry and Terry  The Importance Of Enjoyment Of Life…
Sometimes it is nice to simply rest the mind… a vacation does both the mind and the body good. In fact, sometimes, rest prompts more creativity and better thoughts yielding to a rejuvenated. Some are already preparing for the next pageant season… contestants are considering which preliminary pageants they’d like to enter, promoters are busy preparing for their contest and the nation is eagerly sitting idle ready to see who will enter the arena to become the next Miss Gay America. While this national office is busy schooling Miss Gay America 2016 Asia O’Hara administratively, we trust that the rest of the world, no matter one’s beliefs, will take time to enjoy the beauty of the holiday season. The key to completeness in life is working toward goals but also knowing when to take a vacation from such work toward one’s goals. Sadly, some of us learn the difficult way that results do not always happen “overnight” and sometimes the greatest experiences are those worth working toward and waiting for… There is plenty for which to be excited about, during the next pageant season, and we vow to ensure that Asia is ready to continue the EXCELLENCE. She is already off to a great beginning and we trust that with our efforts to ensure her preparedness, just as those who have reigned before, will make this year to be among the greatest of her career. As we say… the kind of year one has as the reigning Miss Gay America is simply in the hands of the person wearing the crown. Winning is the easy part. A successful reign is the challenge. If the judges selected wisely and selected the individual who they thought was best prepared to continue the legacy, then the transition should be somewhat simple, but not effortless by any means. We are anxious to see what calendar year 2016 has in store with Asia O’Hara as the national Symbol of Excellence. So, while we are working administratively, to continue to keep this pageant system, as the world’s leading organization for female impersonation competition, we hope that each of you will have a great holiday season. In spite of some events that have occurred in our world, there is still much beauty to witness… Until next time, Larry and Terry  The Words “Thank You” Do Not Seem Sufficient…
Seemingly, there is so much work to insert into producing such an incredible national competition that the months of preparation flies by in an instant, and then once the national competition commences, it passes by even faster…. And this year was certainly no exception. We admit that we could not do this alone and without the support of many, there would be no Miss Gay America Pageant. This edition of the Excellence article is an effort to acknowledge many who helped to make this year such as success. In advance, if we inadvertently fail to mention your name, please know that it was not intentional. To Miss Gay America 2015 Blair Williams, you were a pleasure to work with during the Miss Gay America 2016 Pageant Season and you shined brightly during the week’s competition. It may have taken you a minute to achieve your dream, but you reigned supreme and made us proud! To the newly crowned Miss Gay America 2016 Asia O’Hara… thank you for coming home! You showed the world that someone can capture the crown on the 1st trip to the national competition, but that it takes preparedness. We hope that you have an amazing reign and that you will be as proud of the Miss Gay America organization as the Miss Gay America organization will be of YOU! To the formers who participated during the week, Tiffany Bonet’, Kerri Nichols, Catia Lee Love, Charity Case, Sabrina White, Nicole DuBois, Victoria DePaula, Coco Montrese, Coti Collins, Kirby Kolby, Sally Sparkles and Jessica Jade… your assistance through the week in whatever capacity was needed was a “God-send”… just knowing you were there and willing to help made us feel much better and we so appreciated working with each of your through the week. To the Contestants… thank you for being so flexible with the things beyond our control such as staging at the onset of the competition and the lighting on Thursday night. Thank you for understanding that this is also “show business” and sometimes you have to roll with the punches which most of you did! Thank you for making the effort to be in attendance. We also thank those who qualified who were not able to attend as you clearly demonstrated that this was not the year for you to become Miss Gay America! To those who qualified but did not attend to compete, we hope you enjoy your “time off” and we hope to see you return on the national competition stage October 2018. To the promoters of the Miss Gay America 2016 Pageant season, your support and hard work is what sets this team apart from the others… thank you for all that you do and for wanting to make a difference all the while keeping this brand to be something for which we all can be proud. To the Judges of the Miss Gay America 2016 Pageant:
For many of us, the financial responsibility of participating in this pageant system is enormous and we are so appreciate to the sponsors:
To the office staff, there are no words that can express the great feeling of reliability in knowing that you are all working in the best interest of the pageant system….. to Bruce Lamensdorf, Coby Myers, Michael Sharpe a/k/a Miss Gay America 2013 Sally Sparkles and Brett Harris- the very stressful week of pageantry would have been much more stressful without your efforts and we will always have such high gratitude for all of your efforts in making the week flow smoothly but also fun… To the titleholders who cared enough to make an appearance to walk during the titleholders walk:
We congratulate the Top 10 finalist of the Miss Gay America 2016 Pageant: Asia O’Hara- Miss Gay Texas America Kelly Ray- Miss Gay South East America Dextaci- Miss Gay Gulf States America Truly Fabu- Miss Gay North East America Navaeh McKenzie- Miss Gay Arizona America Deva Station- Miss Gay D.C. America Bella DuBalle- Miss Gay Tennessee America Barbra Seville- Miss Gay Western States America Dessie Love Blake- Miss Gay Southern States America 1st Alternate Lindsay Starr- Miss Gay North Carolina America 1st Alternate And to the Top 10, we thank you for bringing your “A” game… aside from this being a competition, to the audience it is also a show and we thank you for making such a spectacular show. Also to those so close to the Top 10 spot (including Patti Lovelace, Best Overall Contestant Not In The Top 10 and Sasha Leigh Chambers, thank you for making it such an accomplishment to be in the Top 10 as you both were very close to a Top 10 spot and you certainly were worthy of being in the Top 10…). The sad part of this contest is that there were so many that created such a great show but there are only 10 spots available for final night competition. Just as the winning spot, there were several others that we know would be great Miss Gay America titleholders but unfortunately, there can only be one winner. The contestants were spectacular at the national competition and any of the Top 15 placements would have not been surprising to anyone, to actually be in the Top 10. Again, we appreciate all contestants for their dedication in making the national competition so entertaining! To Marketing Director Chuck Guthrie, thank you for all you do to make the Miss Gay America organization shine brightly through social media. Thank you for taking great amounts of time to show the world through social media, the event of the week! Your efforts have bolstered our likes to 10,000+ and we appreciate the quality job you do for marketing this brand. We very much appreciate your efforts on the table centerpieces, the floral pieces of the Miss Gay America 2016 pageant and the overture music for preliminary night competition. Your assistance has been tireless and we appreciate you! To Brett Harris, thank you for being such an integral part of the team! Each and every diverse job you did was such a help and we so appreciated working with you during the week! To Brian Menegay, Vivi Vellure, P.J. Newton, Jesse Sheard and Brock Bradley, there are no words that can thank you enough for your heart that you inserted into making this years pageant a great success… tho we could never thank you enough, please know that you are part of this team and we could not have made it through the week without you! To Joey Dotson and Paulette Harness, you handled the admission and will-call counter effortlessly and worked like a well oiled machine. Thank you for being so reliable and trustworthy! Your dedication to this system is greatly appreciated and we are forever grateful to you both! To Daniel Eckstrom, thank you for all you do through the year to keep the www.missgayamerica.com website operating smoothly. While we know that you enjoy doing the website work, we are so thankful to have such a great person that genuinely cares about the system and wanting to keep a great impression/image via the website. You are appreciated more than you could ever know! To Aron Harvey a/k/a Miss Gay America 2000 Catia Lee Love, without you, the week would not be nearly as smooth and we appreciate your keeping the masses calm and running efficiently. We could never pull off the national competition without you! So here we are, nearly 3 weeks after the competition has concluded and yes, we are still tired but his national office has hit yet another cycle in the year… The task at hand now is to ready Miss Gay America 2016 Asia O’Hara to be everything he can be and more as he makes his mark on the legacy of Miss Gay America. As the world begins to sleep during the holiday season, we will be busy working with Asia administratively as well as attempting to regroup from the national competition in effort to seek improvement opportunity for next year. Granted with all of the unexpected issues that we experienced during the week of competition including staging issues, sound system amp crash and lighting issues, we somehow managed to survive! We thank all who participated in this “show business” venture to make the show happen… while nowhere near perfection, we, with the help of many, many people pulled off a great feat which was to produce the Miss Gay America 2016 pageant which was more than just a pageant…. The most consistent thing with show-business is that “the show must go on…” and we thank you, the contestants and former Miss Gay America titleholders for maintaining your professionalism as we adapted to things that were beyond our control. It was a show to the audience but it was also a continuation of a legacy and tradition that means so much for so many people including this national office, so we very much appreciate those who were capable of adapting to certain issues. This national office did the very best we could to accommodate all involved all the while ensuring that the national competition went on without delay. So in closing, while we know that we will not always be pleasing to everyone, we try our very best to remove personalities involved and make EVERY decision to be in the best interest of the Miss Gay America organization. Again, while some of the naysayers may speak so bitterly and boldly about the issues that sometimes just occurs in show business, those who speak negatively do not know all of the details nor never will have all of the true details. Rather than speaking negatively in return to those who make feeble effort to hide behind their “power” of their keyboard, we choose to take the higher and classier road and hold our head high in that we know that we did and continue to do the very best we can with the resources we have in our possession to manage this extremely challenging task of operations within the national contest. While coming off of an extremely difficult year in many areas, we have managed to hold it all together and remove some of the obstacles that prevent/hinder us from keeping things on track. To the world who does not understand the internal side of the operations, we would never intentionally expose ourselves or the Miss Gay America organization to any greater than normal risk so we continue to operate the national contest in the best manner we can, regardless of whether or not we win the “popular vote”. This year just as last, we will continue to remove personalities and make every decision to be in the best interest of the pageant system… those who agree with our decisions, we thank you for your support. By choice, we will divert our focus on the positive of this pageant system, which is many things including a dynamic legacy, a spectacular support system of promoters, a “second to none” crop of Miss Gay America hopefuls and a very beautiful, talented and classy individual who will service as our national Symbol of Excellence for the next 12 months. We hope that each of you have a spectacular holiday season! With our appreciation, until next time!  It's About the Reign! During this time of year, we most always become nervous for many reasons primarily in that we want the next Miss Gay America Pageant to be better than those before and to flow smoothly. But we are also nervous and anxious to see who the Judges select to be the next Miss Gay America. For the last few years, the Miss Gay America organization has been fortunate to have, as its national “Symbol of Excellence” incredible national titleholders that are the epitome of what a Miss Gay America should be. But not all who are crowned are that total Symbol of Excellence as soon as they are crowned. The primary responsibility of the Judges is to sift through the crop of contestants to determine the one, that best presents according to the category descriptions, the best overall competition package that demonstrates (to the Judges) that they, the contestant, will be able to sustain the legacy that so many great entertainers have created, strengthened and sustained. The category descriptions are purposely designed to identify the best overall qualified individual who will be the very Symbol of Excellence that the country expects. We can attest that during the L & T Entertainment administration, no entertainer has been crowned as Miss Gay America, that was COMPLETELY ready. Granted, the obvious strengths were enough to allow them to capture the title but then work immediately begins relative to schooling, being travel ready, appearance/camera ready, administrative ready, performance ready and crowd-presentation ready. More often than not, most entertainers who are fortunate enough to become Miss Gay America are most of the aforementioned with some attention to detail needed so as to meet the expectations of many including the audience, fellow contestants, promoters and L & T Entertainment. The greatest disservice the judges could provide (to the contestants) would be to award the title of Miss Gay America to someone who, based on the competition presentations, clearly demonstrate their un-preparedness. Thus the reason that, we ( L & T Entertainment) observe all phases of competition. That is, all phases of competition except Male Interview which is usually so close in scores that the individuals who usually consistent score high usually score high in other categories also. From our observance of competition, we can generally assess the contestant enough to know certain areas that may warrant attention however, all newly crowned Miss Gay America titleholders go through the same extensive orientation and schooling (from L & T Entertainment) to ensure that their administrative capabilities are ready for another great pageantry season. As we all know, the very least that the country expects is that Miss Gay America should be beautiful and entertaining but the behind-the-scenes administrative responsibilities is actually the glue that bonds the organization for the next coming year. If Miss Gay America is administratively prepared, then their role as a member of the partnership with L & T Entertainment will be much easier and rewarding, all the while allowing L & T Entertainment to do the cyclical things that must be accomplished in order to sustain yet another great year of pageantry. It would deeply sadden us to observe a Miss Gay America titleholder who was “prematurely” selected to wish the year away in that they would hope that the next October would quickly get here so that they will be able to relinquish the title. Instead, we want the newly crowned Miss Gay America to be prepared in every way, administratively, travel, performance and approachability so that they can have the greatest year of their life and realize that at the end of their reign, that all of the investment made (time, energy and money) to obtain the goal was well worth it. Case and point… Miss Gay America 2015 Blair Williams! There are some whom this national office would be delighted to witness to be crowned as Miss Gay America 2016. Likewise, there are some whom we feel are not ready and inwardly hope that they are not crowned this year however, no matter whom the judges select to be Miss Gay America 2016, our commitment to this pageant system and the world is to immediately commence working with the next Miss Gay America, so as to ensure that they, the newly crowned Miss Gay America, is ready to embark on their participation in history and to assist them (the newly crowned Miss Gay America) to positively make the best impression within their ability to be the very Miss Gay America that the country expect. At this point we may not know who is NOT going to be crowned the next Miss Gay America but we certainly know who will be crowned and that is one of the 54 qualified contestants to the Miss Gay America 2016 Pageant. The field has been narrowed from approximately 500 men, who made attempt to qualify for the national competition during this pageant season, to 54. Then the next step is to narrow the field from 54 to 10, then from 10 individuals to 5 individuals. As we say each year to the crop of contestants, we pray that they know what they are volunteering to become, then when they become it, they should embrace the moment and excel as the nationals leading Symbol of Excellence. It is so much more than a crowning moment… It is about the reign! So ready or not, 1 of 54 individuals will become the next Miss Gay America. We are eager to work with whomever the Judges select and hope that they (the Judges) choose wisely as the legacy of 44 others is at risk. Until next time! What is Excellence?  As defined by Wikipedia, “Excellence” is a talent or quality which is unusually good and so surpasses ordinary standards. Not only does this national office expect Miss Gay America to surpass ordinary standards, but the world expects the same from a Miss Gay America titleholder. Often times, during Male Interview or On-Stage Question, the contestants are asked to define Excellence and how it related to being Miss Gay America. While we have heard every imaginable answer, we wanted to take this opportunity, and just prior to the coronation of the 44th annual Miss Gay America (or 46th person to be called Miss Gay America) to give you a few words to describe/define Excellence, from the perspective of L & T Entertainment... Excellence is: 1. Someone who clearly understands that their primary responsibility is to sustain a legacy and tradition that so many others have worked tirelessly to present. And in such responsibility to sustain, they will clearly embrace/enforce/monitor/patrol/police the regulations of the pageant system. 2. Someone who realizes that although they have achieved their dream, the learning does not cease with the “crowning moment” but rather merely begins. 3. Someone who wants to reign supreme. 4. Someone who can work well with others and see through agenda’s and motives with clear focus on decision that is in the best interest of the pageant system. 5. Someone willing and able to manage a pageant, as necessary. 6. Someone willing to “act the part” just as many of those who have reigned before… 7. Someone willing to “look the part” just as many of those who have reigned before… 8. Someone who can multi-task. 9. Someone who can provide follow-up to even the most minor details. 10. Someone who is punctual at ALL times. 11. Someone who can be an effective public speaker. 12. Someone who does not get easily frustrated and can work with all to find a solution that is in the best interest of the pageant system. 13. Someone who has “thick skin”… to be able to accept criticism, consider the source and apply constructive criticism as necessary. 14. Someone who is beautiful on the inside. 15. Someone who is beautiful on the outside. 16. Someone who can be counselor to the contestants. 17. Someone who can be counselor to the promoters. 18. Someone who can serve as mediator between the national office and “the field” 19. Someone who can be assertive yet calming during crisis situations. 20. Someone who can ensure the promoters that this is a team effort and that all will be done, as much as possible to ensure that their contest is managed fairly and efficiently. 21. Someone who thinks before they speak. 22. Someone who can improvise when a situation is present that may not be the most ideal environment 23. Someone who can enforce a regulation without arrogance so that all know that such rule enforcement is for the best interest of the pageant system. 24. Someone who can put the needs of others before their own 25. Someone who can observe the competition, watch the panel of Judges, keep an eye on the emcees and monitor the overall operations of the pageant for compliance of rules and regulations as applicable 26. Someone who is confident yet humble 27. Someone who is personable and approachable 28. Someone who can adapt to change 29. Someone who is willing to learn from others 30. Someone who realizes that they have been chosen to be part of something that is far greater than their individual ego/personality 31. Someone who has attention to detail in all aspects. 32. Someone who puts the well being of the pageant system as priority 33. Someone who carefully plans each performance with pre-thought of music, choreography and costuming. 34. Someone who clearly understands the expectations of a Miss Gay America relative to physical appearance, and delivers such appearance with attention to every detail including, hair, make-up, jewelry, costuming and shoes. 35. Someone who respects the title of Miss Gay America much more than the prestige and money that is associated with wearing the crown. 36. Someone who is willing to help grow the Miss Gay America Pageant System in numbers of Promoters, Contestants and Audience 37. Someone who is willing to sacrifice a year of their life in order to help others achieve their dream 38. Someone who is willing to make their mark in gay history as one of the world's most prestigious female impersonators 39. Someone who is a leader 40. Someone who is a positive role model 41. Someone who excels at the art of female impersonation 42. Someone who has an ability to conquer the day to day administrative responsibilities 43. Someone who is talented and has the ability to capture the attention of the audience with each and every performance. 44. Someone with a desire to make a positive impact on the title of Miss Gay America and is willing to work daily to make such a positive impact 45. Someone who recognizes their strengths and weaknesses, both on-stage and off-stage and strives daily to enhance their illusion AND their male persona. If the above sounds familiar, it should because it not only describes the qualities of Miss Gay America 2015 Blair Williams but it also described many of the other former Miss Gay America titleholders. Additionally, it should describe all of those vying for the title of Miss Gay America 2016, or at least the openness to overcome, in short order, any shortfall to the items mentioned above. As one can tell, it is not an easy task to live up to the expectation of “excellence”… not every person is meant to become the nation’s leading Symbol of Excellence. The job of this national office is to school the next Miss Gay America to be all that many of us expect, so this year, just as the most recent 10 whereby we have owned and managed this national pageant system, we hope that the judges can clearly see through to the core of each contestant, to clearly identify the best possible candidate who exudes most of the above mentioned. So to all of the 54 Qualified Contestants of the Miss Gay America 2016 Pageant we ask you... Are you EXCELENCE? Until next time!  The Power Of An Image…
Have you ever met someone only to discover that upon meeting them, they were nothing as you imagined, once you had a chance to know them? Then you look back to determine how you could have interpreted them to be of certain ways… Some of the preconceived notion was due to information you perhaps gathered from others but somewhere along the way image (directly or indirectly) play its role in how you perceive others to be. Granted, an image may not project the true characteristics of a person or organization but image certainly suggests one’s characteristics. As fair as one thinks a perceived image to be, a not-so good image can make life a little more challenging… A “not-so-good” image should not be confused with malicious rumors/gossip that always seems to have a presence because more often than not, such rumors when untrue die and later prove to be untrue, in which case image tends to not suffer. However, when repeated rumors and turmoil constantly surround someone, more often than not, there may be some truth to such rumors which usually produce a not-so-good image. Image is created by and from many things such as: · How one dresses · One’s hairstyle · How one walks · How one speaks · What one laughs at · The car one drives · The house in which one lives · The photographs of oneself · The postings of public comments or responses to comments of others on social media · The postings/content on one’s social media outlet · How one behaves in public places · The quality of a promotional photograph · How one behaves in a not-so public environment · How publically reacts to a stressful circumstance · Those whom one often keep company · One’s entourage · One’s performance selections including music and apparel choices · How one responds/reacts to gossip and rumors · One’s relationship with family You may ask, where does image and being Miss Gay America correlate? It relates in everyday life before, during and after the reign of a Miss Gay America titleholder. To those whom we have coached in their efforts to become Miss Gay America, we always cover the aspect of image. We have always coached each newly crowned Miss Gay America that a good image plays a huge role in respect. Sadly, a “not-so-good” image follows one through the reign and is an extremely difficult to improve. In fact, if one has thoroughly prepared oneself to be Miss Gay America, we’d hope that the newly crowned Miss Gay America does not have to spend part of her reign trying to do image damage control. We have witnessed on many occasions, that sometimes titleholders (usually NOT forever Miss Gay America titleholders) do not get the respect that one would think that their title deserves and it is all because of a substandard image that distracts the respect of others. Interesting enough, we recently has to search for photos of various qualified contestants so as to ensure that their photo was available for viewing on the Miss Gay America website and by browsing their various social medial pages in search of an acceptable photograph to publish to the web site, we discovered that in some instances, there may be “not-so-good” character images as a result of various photographs, or postings/comments. So we challenge all who want to become the next Miss Gay America, to remove one’s personality from the review process and thoroughly evaluate one’s image. Sometimes the public (fellow contestants, promoters, audience members and yes, even Judges) may form opinions based on a perception gathered from one’s image. Image is defined as “a representation of the external form of a person or thing” and as we find more often than not, usually the perception of an image, especially the not-so-good images, are usually accurate. The reign of Miss Gay America is challenging enough without the need to repair the image during the reign. We want every newly crowned Miss Gay America to enjoy the experience from the time the crown is placed upon the head until the time it is relinquished, which is why we repeat what we always say and that is… “you’ve got to be IT, before your become IT”. In summary, the image of a powerful thing. The image usually makes a statement before one walks into the room. The image is difficult to improve and does not happen overnight. The image can be the key to opening the door of respect. The image can sometimes be the deciding factor especially in a “benefit of the doubt” situation. So again we ask that anyone who aspires to be the next Miss Gay America should evaluate their image to ensure that it is in good condition… Until next time!  Integrity Without Compromise…
Seemingly, this national office spends much more time enforcing rules and regulation of this pageant system than any other tasks. Thankfully, the rules and regulations exist and are transparent. If one will simply read, re-read and then read again, the rules and regulations of this pageant system, more often than not, knowing what to do and when to do it are a much easier task than otherwise. Because this is a competition, there must be rules and regulation. As owners of this national pageant system, enforcing the rules and regulations are easy, especially when personalities are removed. We have issued suspension against many that we love as friends. The frustrating thing is that each and every time that we have had to deal with any negative issues, it is most often because someone did not think with the best interest of the pageant system in mind. When it is all said and done, our primary objective is to ensure that the contestants received a fair pageant. Then finishing in a close second is our efforts of ensuring that all who are involved with this pageant system, follow suit with the rules that apply to whatever capacity for which they are involved, which correlates with our efforts to ensure that the contestants receive a fair pageant experience. While some may disagree with some of the decisions that come from this national office, we have always made every effort to preserve the integrity that the L & T Entertainment administration is known for. Our commitment to the supporters of this pageant system is to always maintain a high level of integrity in all aspects of this pageant system. We address issues as we know about them but we are not so foolish to think that there are not issues that some may try to “sweep under the rug”. But, our experience is that more often than not, “it all comes out in the wash”. We admonish all to let us know if or when regulation is violated, when such violation occurs rather than at a future time when it appears that the only reason we are informed of a certain issue at a future time is when there may be an “axe to grind”. We value the many friendships that have been made over the last 11 years of promotion of the incredible legacy that we call Miss Gay America but first and foremost, our obligation to those who invest in this pageant system it to preserve and strive to strengthen the integrity of this pageant system! As always, we are committed to EXCELLENCE!  “Our Worst Enemies”… We’ve always said, you’ve got to be IT, before you become IT… And, if you are not IT prior to THE crown being placed on your head, more likely than not, one will spend much time during the reign attempting to earn respect. Granted many of us have such a tremendous amount of respect for the crown of Miss Gay America and naturally, some of that respect is transferred to the person who wears the crown, but in order for one to truly be effective as the reigning Miss Gay America, one must have the respect from others. The respect is usually earned before the coronation. If one does not have the respect from others they will have a much more challenging reign than otherwise, especially when it is relative to certain “on-the-spot” decisions that have to be made, from time to time, by Miss Gay America. While L & T Entertainment prides itself in preparing/schooling each newly crowned Miss Gay America to be all (and more) that the country expects Miss Gay America to be, there is only so much that this national office can do, if the level of respect from others is less than favorable. Seemingly these days we see so many “Miss Gay America hopefuls” that tarnish their reputations. Many times a tarnished reputation will be difficult and sometimes impossible to repair. Such lack of respect will usually provoke confrontation especially when Miss Gay America is making effort to enforce regulation in this pageant system. From the negative/confrontational social media postings, the “not-so-flattering” photos (including male persona and female persona) posted on social media, the “better than thou/grand” attitudes to the public displays of unbecoming conduct, we see many Miss Gay America hopefuls that make us somewhat nervous that they (the MGA hopefuls) could one day be crowned, mostly because of public opinion of their (the MGA hopefuls) image. Again, this national office can ready the newly crowned Miss Gay America for the job responsibilities but we cannot repair the reputation that proceeds the newly crowned Miss Gay America. Sadly, when a negative reputation proceeds the coronation, more often than not, the newly crowned Miss Gay America spends much of their reign trying to prove to the world that they are indeed ready to be Miss Gay America and that they exemplify the very “excellence” that so many others before them possess. The reign begins as soon as the crown is placed on the head of the new Miss Gay America. The reign ordinarily encompasses recruiting new contestants, recruiting new promoters, bonding with the forever Miss Gay America sisters, promoting the Miss Gay America pageant system, attending and being an administrator at the preliminary pageants, responding to countless email and test messages, preparing a wardrobe and accessories suitable for a Miss Gay America, preparing new entertainment numbers and readying for the next national competition which will be the relinquishment of title... all of which is busy enough but when once must factor in extra effort to earn respect, the journey will be challenging. While we attempt to structure the newsletter from this desk as guidance and schooling for future Miss Gay America titleholders seemingly we are finding more and more often that we cannot protect one from oneself. No matter how hard we try, there are some that are not IT and are going to have a challenging time becoming IT when the crown is placed on their head. As such we find that, although we wish otherwise, we (as a group of people) sometimes seem to be our own worse enemy. So we challenge each and every Miss Gay America hopeful to examine all that they do, both on-stage and off-stage including social media postings (both comments and photographs), public and private attitude (usually private attitude greatly influences public attitude), support of surrounding pageants and pageant participants, wardrobe (on-stage and off-stage), participation in the Miss Gay America pageant system events (even as a volunteer), community involvement and promotional photographs. As one will see, being Miss Gay America is more about being selfless than selfish and places much emphasis on reputation…anything to the contrary of a positive reputation will certain create challenges in every way. So are we’ve said before and we will continue to say... you’ve got to be IT BEFORE you become IT! Until Next Time, Larry and Terry L & T Entertainment |
