Queerty
by Les Fabian Brathwaite
Click here to read the story on the Queerty website
What originally started as a small group of friends in a West Hollywood living room in 1989 has grown into an annual tongue-in-cheek beauty pageant raising money to support those living with AIDS.
Then called Battle for the Tiara, the event raised $400, collected from twenty people. Today, Best in Drag has raised over $3 million since its current incarnation in 2003 for Aid for AIDS — a non-profit helping to prevent homelessness and hunger for men, women, children and families with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles County.
“Behind the sparkles, spangles, and spandex is a great cause,” said Terry Goddard II, Executive Director of Alliance for Housing and Healing, “providing housing and food for those who are devastated with HIV/AIDS and poverty.”
The 2013 contestants include Miss California, Beverly Center; Miss Michigan, Electra Caprice Riviera; Miss New Jersey, Vava Fanculo; Miss Puerto Rico, Mimi E; Miss Washington, D.C., Ciera Lyon; Miss Wisconsin, Misty O’Portunity. With all that shtick flying we hope everyone’s well tucked.
Celebrity judges include Emmy Award winner Holland Taylor (Two and A Half Men), Golden Globe nominee Mireille Enos (The Killing), Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Bellamy Young (Scandal), and Kathy Kinney (The Secret Life of the American Teenager).
