➤ MISS’D AMERICA, from p.30
ments came when a woman donning
a sash that read “Bride Tribe”
ascended the runway’s steps and
grabbed the mic from Frankie Z.
She thanked the audience, then
gave a shout-out to her friends and
the bride-to-be — before security
escorted her out.
“I heard that there was a drunk
lady on stage — that was me,”
Kressley joked once he regained
the mic.
The pageant has always doubled
as a fundraiser, but this year organizers
kicked up the fanfare — and
brought in more charity dollars
— with real-time voting via text/
SMS for the new category: Miss’d
Popularity.
“It’s not like the presidency, y’all
— your votes will actually count!”
quipped Kressley.
Each text contributed $5 to
Miss’d America’s fundraising
arm, the Schultz-Hill Foundation ,
whose founders Gary Hill and John
Schultz also started the Miss’d
America pageant back in 1991.
At the post-event press conference,
foundation president Hill
said that the primary purpose of
Miss’d America has always been to
raise awareness and fundraise for
LGBTQ causes and the local community.
Among the LGBTQ organizations
and initiatives supported are
the South Jersey AIDS Alliance,
the Manzoni Center that provides
health services to Philadelphia’s
LGBTQ community, Broadway
Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS, Student
Scholarships for LGBTQ Activism,
the LGBTQ-friendly John
C. Anderson Senior Apartments in
Philadelphia, and the Drag Queen
Story Time Literacy Initiative.
Hill thanked Richard Helfant,
the president of the Greater Atlantic
City GLBT Alliance and long
one of New Jersey’s top LGBTQ advocates.
During the press event, Miss’d
America’s seven contestants each
introduced themselves out of drag
with short videos.
In addition to the three top contenders,
the pageant saw splashy
sashays from Boxxa Vine, Cherry
Poppins, Wendy Waxwood, and
Savannah Savonier, all of them
hailing from the East Coast.
Kressley, during the press event,
thanked the Hard Rock for a warm
KELSY CHAUVIN
Host Carson Kressley with fi rst runner-up Nicole
Onoscopi.
welcome and offered congratulations
to all the queens.
“As a connoisseur of drag, it’s so
gratifying to see such an amazingly
talented group of contenders,”
he said. “I don’t envy the judges
because it was a very close competition.
Everyone was spectacular
and each queen brought charm,
uniqueness, nerve, and talent
to the stage. I think it’s loud and
clear: Drag is an amazing form
of entertainment, it’s an art form,
and such a pleasure for me to be
able to host tonight and be able to
celebrate these participants.”
Kressley added, “You’re really
experts at the art of drag, which
ultimately is about embracing everyone’s
diversity and creativity
and all the special things that each
person brings to this earth.”
During the pageant, Helfant
had bestowed a mock Tony award
on Kressley for his brilliant hosting
over the past eight pageants.
Kressley, in turn, noted that he
would be jetting off to Los Angeles
soon after the event to attend the
Emmy Awards for his work on “Ru-
Paul’s Drag Race,” alongside Ru-
Paul Charles and Ross Mathews.
As it turned out, the show won
the Emmy for Outstanding Reality
Competition Program. Kressley
was indeed prescient when he told
Helfant, “Thanks for the award!
I’m going to put this next to that
new Emmy Award I get tomorrow.”
Kelsy Chauvin is a writer and
photographer based in Brooklyn,
specializing in travel, culture and
LGBTQ interests. Follow her on
Twitter and Instagram @kelsycc.
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