Greetings everyone,
What a fantastic first month of being Miss Gay Missouri!! One thing that I have already learned through this process is that regardless of how this title is approached, it truly is a job! I often find myself taking things home with me from my regular job/career, and being Miss Gay Missouri has that same nature. There is always something that can be done, and in order to make this organization run seamlessly you must seize every opportunity to make the most of it!
My first appearance as Miss Gay Missouri was such a wonderful experience. I joined the regular cast of the Dirty Game Show at Missie B’s with the comedic talents of Renica, my forever sister Tajma Stetson, and the always witty and never bashful Bernadette. That evening will forever be special to me as all three of these individuals are people that I have varied history with. I was introduced to Renica back in the good ole’ days, sometime in 2007,when I had a weekly show I hosted at Sidekicks Saloon. Every Wednesday we played Bingo with a very intimate crowd, and the bar invited local talent to come showcase what they had to offer in an effort to muster up a paid booking in our weekly Friday show. Renica entered one of the Talent evenings, and from that moment on I have admired her comedic and goofy banter that she ALWAYS has in store for the dressing room. Tajma Stetson and I were introduced around that same time, just a few months after she moved to Missouri from the great state of Michigan. She quickly made a name for herself within Kansas City as she was a ball of energy and brought a new definition to the word “poised” within our drag community. Like Renica, she was always a pleasure to work with! Bernadette and I have very similar history, but the one thing that I have always admired about her is that she has a stick-tuitiveness. She has a unique approach to female impersonation and has grown to be a staple within the Missie B’s and Kansas City drag family. Surrounding myself with these 3 very unique and professional personalities in my first gig as Miss Gay Missouri was a delight, and I cannot wait to be around them again for the Dirty Game Show’s Pride fundraiser on Wednesday, June 3rd.
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| Moltyn Decadence, Miss River City 2016 |
Our first preliminary also took place during the month of May in Hannibal, Missouri. During the weekend’s events, I grew much closer to Moltyn Decadence and Kyra Banks they put their best foot forward in trying to capture the title of Miss Gay River City, Missouri. It was a pleasure sharing a dressing room with both contestants, and it was so wonderful seeing them work closely together always willing to lend a helping hand to one another even though they were considered eachother’s competition, withboth being within the top 10 placement at the 2015 state competition the month prior. Jade Sinclair ran a very smooth pageant (in ALMOST less than 2 hours), and Nadia M. Louis was absolutely stunning in her performances the final evening of her reign. At the end of the evening it was a pleasure to crown Moltyn Decadence as the winner of the preliminary, with both contenders capturing their tickets to the state competition next April. It was a splendid evening of pageantry, and it was great seeing representation from nearly every major city in our audience. While the pageant had a quick conclusion, the evening’s events continued with some FABULOUSLY hysterical karaoke. The owners that are so kind to allow us to house the River City pageant at their venue showed us a great time after the event by providing a karaoke machine that brought out the best in everyone!
Our next preliminary will be housed right here in my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. I would strongly recommend any contestant that is having thoughts about entering Miss Gay Kansas City to reach out to myself or one of the promoters. Jeff Hickman and Grover Vermillion always put on a fantastic pageant and have great representation at the state level. If you are looking for promoters who know what they are doing and have a strong sense of what this system is about I would encourage you in taking a moment to pick their brains. Their knowledge and expertise will speak for themselves in even the briefest of conversations!
As we head into June, I want to take a moment out of my newsletter to wish everyone a wonderful month filled with Pride. This month gives us a moment to celebrate where we have come from, where we currently are, and what we plan on becoming within our very diverse community. Take this moment to present the best YOU!!! During the month of June I have the privilege in performing across the state in three different Pride festivals, and I am excited to celebrate our diversities and similarities as we band together to present the best US! You can catch me in Springfield, Missouri on June 13th and 14th at Touche Nightclub, in Saint Joseph, Missouri on June 20th in the Pride Parade and on the mainstage at Coleman Hawkins Park, and in Saint Louis, Missouri on June 26th and 27th at the Grey Fox! If you see me out and about please come say HI!!!
We also have established details for two more preliminaries, putting us at an overall count of nine preliminaries scheduled. Listed below are the eight preliminaries that have yet to occur:
Saturday, July 25th – 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 ValariKnyte (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, January 16th - Miss Gay Heart of Missouri
Theme – To Be Announced; honoring the reigning Destiny Michelle
Location – Saint Joseph, MO, at Headquarters Nightclub
Promoted by Amanda Lay
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)
Date TBA – Miss Gay Springfield, Missouri
Theme – 50 Shades of Pink; honoring the reigning Diva Coppafeel
Location – Springfield, MO, at the Ramada Oasis Hotel and Convention Center
Promoted by Vince Edwards and Autumn Holiday
Over the past month I have been in contact with a lot of you about this coming pageant season. I am thrilled to see the interest remain on behalf of the existing contestants, interests rekindled from previous years’ contestants, and interests sparked from new contestants. This is sure to be a great year, so get your tickets as early as feasibly possible!!!!
Sounding Off,
Kyla Breeze,
MGMA 2015
MGMA FRIENDS,
Well here we are in spring and summer is just around the corner. Spring is always such a beautiful time of the year, trees and grass are green the flowers are in full bloom and giving off the amazing fragrances and new life is coming fourth. Congratulations to everyone who graduated this year from schools across the great state of Missouri and hope that your futures are bright and rewarding. May presented us with our very first preliminary for the 2016 pageant season and yes we are already off and running. Miss River City America was held in Hannibal Mo. over Memorial Day weekend with two contestants competing for the crown. Kyra Breeze was awarded the 1st alternate position and Moltyn Decadence was crowned Miss River City America 2016. Both Moltyn and Kyra have secured their spots at Miss Gay Missouri America 2016 that will once again be held in Kansas City, Mo. at the Arts Asylum on April 7th 8th and 9th, how excited we are to be returning to Kansas City for another year.
Kyla Breeze MGMA 2015 was absolutely amazing at Miss River City proving that she is ready to take the reins and lead us all into another year of success. Not only did she do her administrative requirements with ease but she showed amazing beauty, grace and dance ability during the pageant. Kyla’s feet are now wet so from here out she will only rise to all occasions as MGMA 2015 and prove not only was she ready to win but deserved to win. Several preliminaries are already scheduled so that everyone interested in competing next year can get their tickets, please do not wait till the last minute to secure a spot, get done early so that you have more time to prepare and work out all the little kinks. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Kyla Breeze, any board member or former MGMA for answers. Upcoming prelims are:
Saturday, July 25th – 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 ValariKnyte (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, January 16th - Miss Gay Heart of Missouri
Theme – To Be Announced; honoring the reigning Destiny Michelle
Location – Saint Joseph, MO, at Headquarters Nightclub
Promoted by Amanda Lay
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)
Date TBA – Miss Gay Springfield, Missouri
Theme – 50 Shades of Pink; honoring the reigning Diva Coppafeel
Location – Springfield, MO, at the Ramada Oasis Hotel and Convention Center
Promoted by Vince Edwards and Autumn Holiday
As May comes to an end and we head into the month of June, Gay Pride month begins. With all of the topics in the news today we as the LGBT community have been picked on for a lot of things and have had things said about us that are not at all true.
When he talked about race relations, Martin Luther King Jr. used to like to quote an old black minister: "Lord we ain't what we should be and we ain't what we gonna be, but thank God, we ain't what we was!" That particular minister was speaking of slavery, but the quote accurately points out, racially speaking, things could be--and have been--worse. We as the LBGT community still to this day face injustice and inequality. While I do not compare our struggle at all to that of our African American brother and sisters, we face many of the same struggles. Hatred, persecution, fired from jobs, denied employment and housing and refusal of services and entry in some business. On June 28th 1969 our fight for equal rights began with Stonewall. We as the LGBT community owe those pioneers of equality and freedom our respect and thanks, we can never forget the fight and struggles they endured. Remember as you celebrate your pride that we are being watched by those that want us to fail and keep us down and in the closet where they think we belong. Celebrate together with dignity, respect, acceptance, love, tolerance, forgiveness, hope and remembrance for yourself and others around you,be mindful of how you present yourself to those that judge us. It only takes one person to make us all look unfavorable. So as you all dance together, walk hand in hand together, show affection to one another and show your pride for being LGBT take a moment and thank everyone who helped us get to where we ae today. We as the LGBT community are strongest when we stand united as one for the equality for all. Stay safe, stay healthy and stay proud.
Emilio Olvera aka Lexsus Chaney
MGMA Board and Alumni
