Above: The Miss Gay America Royal Court by Scotty Kirby.
All of us at the Miss Gay America Pageant wish our Miss Gay America family, friends and drag fans everywhere a Happy New Year.
We thank you for turning out in droves across the country for the 2020 preliminary pageants and packing the house for the Miss Gay America 2020 nationals in St. Louis last October.
Heading into our 49th year, we're full of gratitude and excited about the future of the pageant and the fabulous drag stars that continue to rocket to superstardom from our the Miss Gay America stages.
Thank you!
Above, the Miss Gay America Royal Court as photographed by Scotty Kirby in Nashville. Miss Gay America owners Michael Dutzer and Rob Mansman say, "We had a great time in Nashville with the Miss Gay America Royal court. Thank you Miss Gay America 2016 Suzy Wong for hosting the weekend. Thank you to the film crew and photographer Scotty Kirby for capturing everything."
From left to right: The Miss Gay America 2020 court L-R: Second Alternate Ivy Dripp (Miss Gay Louisiana America 2019), Miss Gay America owner Michael Dutzer, Fourth Alternate Fifi DuBois (Miss Gay Midwest America 2019), Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart, First Alternate Dextaci (Miss Gay Mid-Atlantic America 2019), Third Alternate Truly Fabu (Miss Gay New York America 2019), Miss Gay America owner Rob Mansman.
Above: Mr. Gay America 2019 Simbar R. Hall. Photo by Tios Photography.
While many are familiar with the Miss Gay America pageant as the world’s first, longest running (since 1972) and most prestigious national female impersonator competition, for some, its counterpart, the Mr. Gay America pageant–and the myriad variations of LGBTQ talent competitions in general–remain a bit of a mystery.
First, a little history. The Mr. Gay America pageant, originally Mr. Gay All-American, 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).
Though the pageant has changed ownership several times, and ceased from 2009 – 2017, it was revived by Michael Dutzer and Rob Mansman (Mad Angel Entertainment) the current owners of the Miss Gay America pageant as the Mr. Gay America pageant.
Mr. Gay All-American was the first contest of its kind, and the current winner is considered to be the co-titleholder to Miss Gay America. Today many LGBTQ pageants such as Miss Continental (Mr. Continental), Entertainer of the Year (Mr. Entertainer of the Year), Miss USofA (Mr. USofA), now also have a male co-titleholder.
Mr. Gay America 2017 was Kyle Ean followed by Mr. Gay America 2018 was Judas Elliot (read his MGAZINE interview here). Now, meet your 2019 Mr. Gay America, Simba R. Hall.
Above: Mr. Gay America 2019 Simba R. Hall wins Mr. Gay America 2019.
1. How would you describe the Mr. Gay America pageant in a sentence?
A pageant that represents the epitome of excellence and shares it talents throughout the communities across the world.
2. What’s your elevator pitch for Mr. Gay America and why it is important in the gay community?
Mr. Gay America represents the best of gay and gay friendly male entertainment by giving back our talents to the community. We are intelligent, talented, well-groomed individuals that respect ourselves and the community we represent. This is important because it allows those not a part of our community see we deserve to have our talents appreciated across all humanitarian lines.
Above: Mr. Gay America 2019 Simba R. Hall. with Miss Gay America 2020 Andora Te'tee. Photo by Deejers Design.
3. Would you call what you do a form of male drag? Drag minus the female impersonation aspect?
Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart by Tios Photography.
On the night of Saturday October 5 in St. Louis, New York City female impersonator entertainer Pattaya Hart was crowned Miss Gay America, considered the most coveted national title in drag pageantry.
Established in Nashville in 1972, The Miss Gay America Pageant is the world’s first, longest running and most prestigious nationwide female impersonator (aka drag) competition.
Known as the “Symbol of Excellence,” Miss Gay America winners represent the utmost in professionalism and entertainment in the art of female impersonation. Each October, dozens of contestants from over one hundred city, state and regional preliminaries across the country compete over four nights for the Miss Gay America crown.
Winning on her first attempt, Pattaya Hart is the second consecutive winner to be from New York City, following in the footsteps of Manhattan entertainer, Miss Gay America 2019, Andora Te’tee of Hell’s Kitchen. Also from New York City is the Miss Gay America 2020 Fourth Alternate, Fifi DuBois.
This is not Pattaya Hart’s first drag title. In 2017, she won Miss’D America, the campy but classy fundraising drag show that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for LGBTQ causes. Fifi DuBois was Miss’D America 2015.
Above: Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart on Thailand TV!
Pattaya Hart is Methawee “Plu” Sayampol, a native of Thailand who moved from Bangkok to New York City in January 2009 to study dance at Steps on Broadway, where he is now a faculty member, teaching jazz dance classes. Plu lives in Washington Heights and can be seen performing as Pattaya Hart at Lucky Cheng’s at Stage 48, Voss Events Drag Brunch at The Iridium, QUEEN at Industry bar, BlackOut Friday’s at Suite bar, and various events around town.
Plu’s mother, sister and aunt flew all the way from Bangkok to St. Louis to cheer him on and watch him compete for the very first time. “Having family in the audience, supporting you, is such a wonderful feeling, he says. “I was so happy and grateful I got to share this incredible moment in my life with them and show them my hard work that I take so much pride in.”
Finally, when asked where she got her drag name, Pattaya says, “‘Pattaya’ came from a famous city in Thailand known as the land of the world’s most beautiful ladyboys.”
Below (7 photos): New Yorker Pattaya Hart wins Miss Gay America female
impersonation pageant. Tap any image to view as a slideshow with
captions, credits. Follow Pattaya Hart on Instagram.
At Miss Gay America 2020 moments before the winners were announced. Photo by BjKj Illusions.
The crowning of Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart. Photo by BjKj Illusions.
Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart. Photo by BjKj Illusions.
The nation's top LGBT news magazine, The Advocate, recently posted 46 photos from Miss Gay America 2020, which happened between October 2 and 5 in St. Louis. Check them out in all their glory here.
Above: Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart on Thailand TV!
When asked how this came about, she explained, "I have a bunch of fans and followers from Thailand, especially Drag Race Thailand fans. So they were all following the pageant through social media and went on and covered the whole story to the press themselves. The footage they used are probably from social media and some were from other events on my instagram.I believe it's from News18 (I don't live in Thailand anymore so i have no idea what channel that is lol). The information they were saying on the news aren't 100% accurate, especially on the awards that I won."
Great feature by Gabe Hartwig in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Miss Gay America 2020. Go to stltoday.com and tap on Entertainment, then Theater to see the story and slideshow. Thanks, Gabe! You did us proud for a second year in a row!!!
Regarding the photo caption above, we're pretty sure Pattaya was gesturing to her mother, who flew all the way in from Bangkok (with her aunt and sister) to come on stage.
We present The Miss Gay America 2020 court! L-R: Fourth Alternate Fifi DuBois (Miss Gay Midwest America 2019), First Alternate Dextaci (Miss Gay Mid-Atlantic America 2019), Miss Gay America 2020 Pattaya Hart, Miss Gay America 2019 Andora Te'tee, Second Alternate Ivy Dripp (Miss Gay Louisiana America 2019), and Third Alternate Truly Fabu (Miss Gay New York America 2019).
For photos of Miss Gay America 2020, check the photo albums on the Facebook page for BjKj Illusions, who we previously featured in this blog, as well as those from Boom Magazine in St. Louis on their Facebook page.
We'll be posting a curated collection of MGA2020 photos soon.
