Drag pageantry

Drag pageantry is a highly developed form of pageantry for female impersonators and trans women, styled after traditional beauty pageants or beauty contests for cisgender women.

In more recent years, it has also evolved into a highly developed form of pageantry for male impersonators and transmen, modeled in the same style and spirit as female-centered pageantry (see above).

National drag pageants became enmeshed within the gay community during the 1970s, and have become increasingly prevalent since. The first drag pageants were held in individual gay bars, and discothèques during the post Stonewall era. Drag pageants evolved independently, in the decade subsequent to the first gay Mardi Gras coronations.

Mirroring the format of the Miss America contest, the first national gay pageant Miss Gay America (MGA) was held in 1972 at the Watch Your Hat & Coat Saloon in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville's first gay dance and show bar. Jerry Peek opened this bar in 1971, and it was an instant sensation, not only with gay patrons, but also with the straight crowd. Norma Kristie, state representative of Arkansas, was crowned as the winner of the 1973 Miss Gay America Pageant, and in 1975 Norman "Norma Kristie" Jones took ownership of the pageant from Jerry Peek, who founded the Miss Gay America Pageant. Norman Jones would form Norma Kristie, Inc. and operate the pageant and its network of preliminaries for the next 30 years.

Since its inception, MGA has prided itself as a showcase for pure female impersonation: Contestants must be men who live as men, achieving a convincing feminine illusion solely through their own ingenuity, creativity, and resourcefulness. Bodily feminization via female hormones, breast implants, and/or injectable fillers such as liquid silicone is strictly forbidden (plastic surgery and fillers above the neck are permitted, however). An interview in male attire is a key component of the pageant; contestants are judged not only for their poise and articulateness but for their overall masculine presentation—points may be deducted for feminine aspects such as overly plucked eyebrows or long fingernails.

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