Tuesday, July 21, 2015

June/July 2015 "Kyla's Kazoo" and MGMA Board Newsletter


Greetings everyone,

I hope the month of June was filled with Pride in our communities from border to border! While there were no city preliminaries during the previous month, my schedule was still that of a travelling business woman. During June I had the privilege in participating in 4 different city Pride events, and I must say that even though I was in different communities, the love that was felt within each area was all the same. It was great to see everyone come together and celebrate our commonalities and differences within our communities!

The first weekend in June I road-tripped it to Saint Louis, Missouri with one of my local gal pals, Vivian Versace. Upon arriving in Saint Louis, we met up with our keepers for the weekend: Lola Vergara and Karma Cassidy. They opened their homes to us like we were lifelong sisters, and I must say the hospitality was overwhelming!Along with the open arms and warm welcome, we were also greeted with 2 of the most adorable and rambunctious puppies in the world. It was a pleasure performing next to a lovely cast back to back nights at the Grey Fox to roll in the month of Pride festivities!

The second weekend in June was fulfilled with a quick little trip down the road to Springfield, Missouri. After getting into town, I had the privilege of going out to lunch with the promoters of Miss Gay Springfield (Autumn Holiday and Vince Edwards), the reigning Miss Gay Illinois (Akasha Royale), Ruby Diamond, Victoria Rose, and a slew of other Springfield locals. That evening we put on a very entertaining show at Touche Nightclub, and to this point I still have not determined if I had more fun backstage or onstage as the hilarities ensued ALLL night long! The second day in Springfield started with the Registration for the Ozarks Pride Pageant where we had 11 lovely contestants. It was a long and eventful day, and it was truly touching to witness Ruby Diamond and all the passion she has for her community as she took her last steps as the reigning Queen of Ozarks Pride. During the events I was also surprised by Ruby, with the assistance of the Pride committee, putting together 50/50 raffles for the charity I have chosen during my reign. I will be forever grateful for being allowed to take part in a pageant that a community holds so near and dear to their hearts!

The weekend of June 19th will be one for the books! Friday evening I hit the road to Saint Joseph, MO with my Kansas sister, Indigo Blaque. We arrived, checked into our hotel a night early, and enjoyed an evening of masculinity! Our hotel was about 5 blocks from the Pride festival, so Friday evening we took a stroll up to the event to check it out after we grabbed a delicious bite to eat at Ground Round Grill and Bar. After enjoying some music by the mainstage DJ we headed back to the hotel for an early night to prepare for the events that were scheduled to take place the next morning. Rise and Shine! It was time to put on some makeup at 9AM, so we could hop in our corvette and ride in the city parade. It was a very refreshing 90 degrees outside, but we were not going to let that stop us! There were lots of locals that braved the heat and cheered us on as we made our way down Felix Street, and I was pleased with seeing lots of familiar faces. After the parade we made our way back to the hotel for a quick dip in the pool prior to getting all dolled up again for the show that night that took place on the mainstage at Coleman Hawkins Park. The show was comprised by some of my favorite sisters, and even though it was in the dead of the heat we made the most of it. Christa Collins, Vivian Versace, Priscilla, and L’oreal all knocked the socks off the Saint Joseph community that came out to support the show. I am always in awe of the amount of straight allies that are in attendance at all of Saint Joseph’s events, and the community would not be the same without them!

Preliminaries are fast approaching, and below I have highlighted our two upcoming... If you have any questions or interest in any of our preliminaries do not hesitate to reach out!

Saturday, September 19th – Miss Gay Metropolitan, Missouri 
Theme – Singing in the Reign; honoring the reigning Kyla Breeze
Location – Saint Joseph, MO, at Headquarters Nightclub
Promoted by Daniel Flier and Kyla Breeze

Saturday, September 26th – Miss Gay Gateway, Missouri 
Theme – Planet Soul; honoring the reigning Musica Malone
Location – Saint Louis, MO, at the Grey Fox
Promoted by Karma Kassidy (Greg Coleman) and Lola Vergara (Luis Acevedo)
Have a safe and fantastic Independence Day!

Sounding Off, 

Kyla Breeze, 
MGMA 2015


Hello friends and family of MGMA,

Pride month has come to a close and hope you all had a BANG of great 4TH of July. Let us start off by saying what a pride month we had across this great land that we call the United States of America. Celebrations were big and small as we came together to stand united as one to show that our rights matter and we will not go quiet into the night or back into the closet. As June came to a close we got to witness history in the making with the Supreme Court ruling that Gay and Lesbian couples have the right to get married throughout the country. This date will forever have a place in history as one of the greatest accomplishments within in our lifetime.

Though the Supreme Court ruled on June 26 that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to wed, some opponents – including presidential candidates – still haven’t heard the fat drag queen sing.I came across this letter below and it touched me personally as I am a Christian and believe we all have the right to believe how we want to believe and believe in what we want to believe. I felt this letter said it perfectly to those that still want to try to hold us down. So here it is:

I want to start by saying that I am a Christian. I always have been and always will be... and I'm also a gay woman who is happily married to a beautiful British Woman named Megan. Since the recent Supreme Court ruling of legalizing same-sex marriages in the United States, I have seen the ugly and the uglier come out in people I never expected. Having moved to live with my wife in the UK, I find myself in awe at the complete and utter ignorance that has been clogging up my news feed and other social media outlets in the past few days from my so-called American friends back in the South. It's important to state that I'm not generalizing all, as I've also seen a positive response from those Christian in the South; even including support from an amazing pastor. However, it saddens me that amongst the many rainbow-colored pictures on my feed, there is also a great deal of hatred.

What I don't understand is quite simply, this: why does gay marriage bother people so much? If you are making an unnecessary palava because you're offended by gay marriage then you seriously need to look at your own life and educate yourselves a bit. If the sole reason you feel that gay marriage is wrong because it's a sin, and the Bible tells you this is wrong, then I sure as hell hope you don't have bacon with your eggs or indulge in shrimp. Oh, or better yet, do you have any tattoos? Ever been drunk, told a white lie or been divorced? Yep, whoops. Those are all sins, too. And all sins are equal, right? I don't see anyone going off the handle because of any of these 'sins' and I most certainly don't see protests or hurtful propaganda against those. Just because you disagree with something -- and we all have the right to do so -- it is an absolute disgrace to treat the LGBT community the way you do. What if we treated all sins in this way? Bacon eaters would be doomed.
Therefore, if gay marriage or 'homosexuality' doesn't affect you personally in the way you live your life in any way, why do you feel the need to even get involved? Why worry about something that is, frankly, none of your business? For instance, I'm not divorced, but many people I know are, and I'm not going to judge them. We shouldn't judge anyone for the way they live their life. If you don't agree with gay marriage, then don't have a gay wedding. Simple. 

I know what you must be thinking. If the LGBT community can protest and stand up for their rights, then why can't Christians? They have every right to stand up for what they believe in also... To a degree, yes. Christianity and gay rights will always butt-heads. Luckily, we have the Equality Act 2010 in the UK, where we've seen it in the favor of gay rights; e.g. where a gay couple were wrongly turned away from a B&B due to the owner’s Christian views, to in favor of Christianity; e.g. the nurse who was wrongly fired for telling her lesbian colleague she's committing a sin. I don't expect the battles to ever fully cease, but choose your battles wisely. Is this really worth your time? Could your time not be better spent with showing kindness and acceptance -- isn't that what being a Christian is truly about, rather than showing hatred? It is not your duty to judge and tell others how to live theirs to ensure your angelic conscious is clear. However, it does change the lives of the LGBT community and gives us freedom and the same rights as anyone else. This means that now my wife and I, if we ever decide to move back to the U.S., can do this freely and can move to any state. Your hatred towards this is unjust and unfair and don't even try to the quote the Bible at me; you may want to actually read it first.

To all of the haters, how would you feel if your rights were completely stripped from you because you had a divorce or because you had a baby out of wedlock, for instance? How would you like someone judging and telling you that you're going to hell because of this?
As a Christian, I wholeheartedly believe that God does not make mistakes and he would not have accidentally made millions of people (and animals) gay by chance. We are all who we are for a reason and no one should ever make you feel bad for that. If anything, my relationship with God is better than ever, and I know that I am definitely not going to hell or that my lifestyle is wrong. It's important for people to know that you can be a Christian and gay. You do not have to choose one or the other. We need more people like Christian singer Vicky Beeching, who came out as a lesbian last year, to look up to as role models.
So, my dear fellow Christians, from one Christian to another, please mind your own business and PLEASE make sure that your hands are clean before you point your finger at me and my community. Amen.

-Whitney Kay Bacon

Very well said and may we as a community remember to love everyone even those that hate us let’s not come down to the level of their ignorance we are better, stronger, wiser, and gayer/happier than they are.

We are getting closer to our pageant season taking off like gang busters, for those that want that early ticket get in before the first of the year (there are 5 prelims) so you have time to prepare and get the time off from work and get your funds together. Don’t wait, MGMA will be here before we all know it and we don’t want anyone to be left out. Here are all the prelims scheduled to date.

TBA – Miss Gay Kansas City, Missouri
Theme – Welcome to the Jungle; honoring the reigning Moltyn Decadence
Location – Kansas City, MO, at Missie B’s
Promoted by L’oreal (Jeff Hickman) and Valari Knyte (Grover Vermillion)

Saturday, September 19th – Miss Gay Metropolitan, Missouri
Theme – Singing in the Reign; honoring the reigning Kyla Breeze
Location – Saint Joseph, MO, at Headquarters Nightclub
Promoted by Daniel Flier and Kyla Breeze

Saturday, September 26th – Miss Gay Gateway, Missouri
Theme – Planet Soul; honoring the reigning Musica Malone
Location – Saint Louis, MO, at the Grey Fox
Promoted by Karma Kassidy (Greg Coleman) and Lola Vergara (Luis Acevedo)

Saturday, October 17th – Miss Gay Northwest, Missouri
Theme – Grace and Glamour; honoring the reigning L’oreal
Location – Saint Joseph, MO, at Headquarters Nightclub
Promoted by Dustin Mathews and Patrick Hall (Bianca Bliss) 

Saturday, October 24th – Miss Gay Saint Louis, Missouri
Theme – Heaven of Hell; honoring the reigning Melissa Marnier
Location – Saint Louis, MO, at the Grey Fox
Promoted by Jade Sinclair (Michael Klataske)

Saturday, March 12th – Miss Spirit of Saint Louis, Missouri
Theme – A Night in Olympus - Goddesses; honoring the reigning Cierra St. James-Monet
Location – Saint Louis, MO, at the Grey Fox
Promoted by Rolanda Devereux (Orlando Burton)

Also this month we welcomed a new board member to our group. Steven Hurley has stepped up to help in the development of MGMA. He has helped over the past five years with Missouri in props, backdrops, set up and tear down, working backstage in all areas, judging of prelims and judging MGM. He has also served as a promoter in the America System with Miss Gay Pride Kansas City. He will bring new ideas to our group and we look forward to working with him. Look for his newsletter coming soon and look for him at the prelims and welcome him to our family as we have.

In closing, thanks to everyone for all of your support Of MGMA, we would not have all of this pageantry if you were not part of it. A big “THANK YOU!” See you all soon.

MGMA BOARD