photo: S1N_BRF_MissGayAmerica_2522.jpg
caption: Suzy Wong, Miss Gay America 2017
Established in Nashville, Tennessee in 1972-37 years before "RuPaul's Drag Race" – The Miss Gay America Pageant is the world's first, longest running and most prestigious female impersonator competition. The 45th Miss Gay America Pageant season kicked off in March with the Miss Gay Heart of America pageant in Columbus, Ohio. It was the first of nearly two-dozen preliminaries happening across the country, each of which will send a winner and alternate to the Miss Gay America nationals in New Orleans this October.
In celebration of its 45th year, the Miss Gay America Pageant invites you to get your Drag History 101 on with five of the best documentary films ever made on female impersonation pageants. Many of the films are now available on gay-centric streaming service Dekkoo.com.
"The Queen," featuring the legendary Flawless Sabrina, is about a New York City pageant in 1968 and is beloved by fans for its fiercely quotable moments. "Paris Is Burning" should need no introduction. "The Damn Deal" and "Pageant" are about the Miss Gay America competition (the first of which, interestingly, was made by a former Miss America). The forthcoming "The Queens," not only goes inside the Miss Continental pageant – the other major drag pageant – but also delves into the history one of the worlds' most famous female impersonation nightclubs, Chicago's Baton.
The bonus, sixth film, "The Unforgettable Danny La Rue," is not about drag pageantry per se, but about what these pageants celebrate – and reward: the ability to get up on a stage, reliably entertain a live audience, and build a successful, sustainable career as a star entertainer. La Rue, arguably the most successful female impersonator of the mid-20th century, did this in spectacular fashion.
For more about the Miss Gay America pageant and upcoming preliminaries, please visit www.missgayamerica.com
