“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
