LibGuides: Queer Film Series: Pageant, Nov. 10

Watch the Film

Pageant takes you behind the scenes as 52 ordinary gentlemen go to extraordinary lengths in order to be crowned the 34th Miss Gay America®. This contest is about the art of illusion, so hormones and surgical body enhancements are forbidden. The film Pageant is free on Vimeo.

The discussion was moderated by Tabbi Katt, Missouri All American Goddess 2020 and STLCC alum.

Pageant on Vimeo

Resources for Further Exploration

Tabbi Katt
Tabbi Katt's official website includes a photo gallery, performance calendar, pageant history, social media, merchandise and contact information. Plus, check out the upbeat music video complete with a cameo appearance!
"Le Cake-Walk: Au Nouveau Cirque"
This one-minute silent film clip from 1903 is the earliest known recording of a drag performance.
Article: "The First Drag Queen?"
William Dorsey Swann, known as "The Queen" to friends, held drag balls in the nation's capital in the 1880's and 90's. Joseph, Channing Gerard. “The First Drag Queen?” Nation, vol. 310, no. 5, Feb. 2020, pp. 24–26. EBSCOhost.
Drag Queens
Links to several articles on The Conversation about drag queens and drag culture.
How Drag Queens Have Sashayed Their Way Through History.
Part of the NPR series 50 Years After Stonewall, this article describes the history of drag in popular culture. June 27, 2019.
Miss Gay America
The official website of MGA.
Miss Gay Missouri America
Saint Louis LGBT History Project -- Drag
Includes lists of drag shows, balls, pageants, title holders, and bars.
Transbeauty
This episode of the series "This is Life with Lisa Ling" (CNN) explores the world of the Miss International Queen 2016 pageant in southeast Asia. Access through Films on Demand.