For some people, Labor Day means a last chance to relax, chill out, chow down on some barbecue and enjoy the last days of summer. It means seeing the Jerry Lewis telethon on TV. But for peeps involved in the pageant community, Labor Day means it's time to roll into Chicago for the Miss Continental Pageant. It's one I've always wanted to attend for years, and this year's pageant was held September 2 and 3 in Chicago's Park West Theatre. The winner was Necole Luv Dupree. The 2007-2008 first alternate was Armani, with Alexis Gabrielle Sherrington as second alternate. Necole has a long list of pageant titles to her credit and was first alternate in last year's Miss Continental Pageant.
The Miss Continental Pageant is considered the creme de la creme of the transgender pageant world. It got its start in 1980, when Jim Flint, the owner of Chicago's Baton Show Lounge organized a pageant for female illusionists who couldn't compete in the Miss Gay USofA or Miss Gay America systems because they banned the use of female hormones, silicone injections below the neck or breast implants. Ironically, its first winner, Chilli Pepper was a classic drag artist, but over time transwomen came to dominate this system. Unlike the mainstream Miss Universe or Miss America systems, it didn't take sistahs long to make their marks in this pageant world. In 1982 Tiffany Arieagus became the first African-American winner of the Miss Continental title. In fact, Necole is the ninth sistah to win the Miss Continental pageant and the third in a row since 2005-06. Other African-American winners have been Lakeisha Lucky, Cezanne, Paris Frantz, Tasha Long, Tommie Ross, Domanique Shappelle, and last year's winner Victoria LePaige, the first Chicago native to win the title.
Twenty-seven years later, the pageant has grown into a system that conducts preliminary contests across the United States, in Canada (Toronto) and Puerto Rico (San Juan). The Miss Continental title is considered a crowning achievement for anyone who's in the pageant world. Some legendary names have won this title that include my fellow Texan Erica Andrews, fellow Houstonian Tommie Ross and Domanique Shappelle. So all hail the new queen of the Miss Continental world for 2007-08, Necole Love Dupree.
I didn't know Chili Pepper was the first Miss Continental.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Miss Dupree!
I found that interesting as well.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing Chilli and Leslie Regennae on the Phil Donahue Show a few years laters.
I was aware that MGA had an implant rule, but to the best of my knowledge MGUSofA never has. If there was such a rule, there wouldn't have been as much controversy over Lauren Taylor a few years back, because Lauren got implants during her MGA reign before going on to win MGUSofA the next year (with implants in place). Of the USofA winners I have seen since 1997, I can only think of one who didn't have at least breast implants: Jacqueline Devereaux.
ReplyDeleteCoCo didn't have implants when she won, but she did start taking hormones at some point in the late 1990s. Sweet Savage has had breast implants for as long as I've known her (admittedly, only since the mid-1990s). I can't remember when Erica Andrews started on the hormones, but she wasn't taking them when I met her in 1992, and she didn't win Miss San Antonio USofA until 1996, when she was well on her way; she won USofA in 1999 and then started her assault on Continental until she won it, boobs well in place. Maya Douglas didn't win Miss USofA until well after she'd won Miss Continental, and, likewise, Kelly Lauren's last go-round in the Miss USofA finals was after winning the Continental crown.
While there is a rule in the USofA system that restricts the competition to males, the rules explicitly state: "The Official Miss Gay USofA Pageant System does not discriminate against entertainers with
silicone and/or hormones. The use of silicone and/or hormones will not be considered by any judge
scoring the contestants."