Monday, June 26, 2017

Meet the Mr. Gay America 2017 Contestants


The evolution of a new era continues in 2017 as the men from Mr. Gay All-American join the Miss Gay America family–as Mr Gay America–on July 2nd at The Rose Room in Dallas, TX.

Ten contestants from across the country will compete for the title of Mr Gay America 2017. (The Rose Room is home to Miss Gay America 2016 Asia O'Hara.) For more ticket information, please visit MGATickets.com

July 2, 2017
10 PM
The Rose Room at S4
3911 Cedar Springs Road, Dallas, TX 75219
Tickets at MGATickets.com

A Little Mr. Gay All-American History 
Mr. Gay America is the welcome reincarnation of the Mr. Gay All-American pageant, which originally ran from 1983 - 2009 and was created in 1983 by Norman Jones aka (the first) Miss Gay America 1973 Norma Kristie, who owned the Miss Gay America pageant system from 1975 - 2005. See the Mr. Gay America poster and photo of Mr. Gay All-American 1985 Keith Mitchell, after the jump.

More via Wikipedia:
The Mr. Gay All-American Contest was founded by Norma Kristie, Inc. in 1983 by the operators of Miss Gay America, Norman Jones and Carmel Santiago (Lady Baronessa, Miss Gay America 1974). The MGAA Contest was started to provide a venue for gay men to showcase their intellect, community service, and talent. It launched careers in professional entertainment for many young gay men. MGAA was the first contest of its kind, and its winner was considered to be the co-titleholder to Miss Gay America.


In 1995, Jones sold the Mr. Gay All-American Contest to Gib Hauersperger, who had been the contest director since the death of Carmel Santiago. Hauersperger operated the pageant until his retirement in 1999. Paul Lopez (Mr. Gay All-American 2000) operated the contest from 1999 to 2003, when Richard Greer (Mr. Gay All-American 1999) assumed the directorial role. John Beebe (Mr. Gay All-American 1996) succeeded Greer as director. In 2009, Beebe and Hauersperger announced that the Mr. Gay All-American Contest system would cease operations indefinitely.

Below, the Mr. Gay America poster and a photo of Miss Gay America 1985 Naomi Sims with Mr. Gay All-American 1985 Keith Mitchell. Photo courtesy of Mr. Gay America advisory board member and Mr. Gay All-American 1996, John Beebe.