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(left) The first Miss Gay America Pageant - Center-Charlie Brown, First Runner Up.Miss Gay America 1971- Norma Kristie (All photos from the private collection of Jerry Peek)
From the Out and About Magazine:
"All across the country people are discovering the art of female impersonation, and drag shows are doing big business in most major US cities and many smaller towns. RuPaul’s Drag Race has brought attention to the art form to the masses, and drag is appealing to a wider variety of audiences than it has in years".
"The Miss Gay America pageant is unique in that all contestants must be biologically male. No transgender performers, and no drag artists taking female hormone therapies or having undergone cosmetic surgeries below the neck are allowed to compete. Long-time pageant owner Norman Jones is acknowledged as the force behind the success of MGA, owned since 2005 by Larry Tyger and Terry Eason, but without its creator, Nashville native Jerry Peek, the respected competition would not exist today."
For more of this drag history piece go here.
