What This South Carolina? A Lesbian In A Beauty Pageant?

For some gay men, beauty pageants are a special thing; the pageantry, the gowns, the drag queeniness of some of the contestants. Me? Not so much. Give me a good awards show and someone drunk on a Red Carpet and I’m in; but, that may change since I heard this story.

The Miss South Carolina Pageant is next week, with the gowns and the glitter and the gaffes during the question and answer portion of the show—Caite Upton, anyone? See HERE—but this year there is a special contestant like we’ve never seen before in the Palmetto State. For the first time in history, the pageant has an openly gay contestant; and she’s multi-racial.

Her name is Analouisa Valencia and many are calling her the new face of the south.

:::fingers crossed:::

The South could use a new face; just sayin'.

And while this is the second time Analouisa has competed, this is the first year she's competing as an out lesbian.

"Last year, I did compete at state, but I wasn't as comfortable because of the fact I was hiding who I was. This is my first year coming out and saying, 'This is me, girls. Sorry, I'm going to be changing in the same dressing room as you. This is what's going to happen.'"— Analouisa Valencia

But, while it might seem having an openly gay contestant is a first for South Carolina, she is also the first bilingual contestant in pageant history.

Seriously? 2013? And she’s the first bilingual contestant? Oh yeah, South Carolina.

And, with three titles already under her belt, Valencia's family says her success represents the changing face of the south, though it’s a change which finds many folks unprepared as they focus on her sexual orientation and her ethnicity. But Valencia says it’s her passion for coaching Special Olympic athletes that she wants judges to remember. She doesn’t want to be The Gay Contestant, or The Multi-Ethnic Contestant, she wants to be Analouisa, and, hopefully, that’s how people will see her.

And this particular gay might just find himself sitting in front of a TV next week, rooting on one particular pageant gal.

Good luck, Analouisa.

And, if you win, and collect the $25,000 scholarship, there's also a Coming Out Toaster Oven, and copy of The Gay Agenda for you.

It’s a win-win, though, any way you look at it.

source

How Do You Know That Jim DeMint Is An Idiot? He's Speaking

South Carolina is pretty. Smallville is pretty. I, like a lot of folks, had an image of truck-driving, beer-swilling, cousin-marrying, gun-toting, Bible-thumping, toothless illiterate hillbillies when I thought about South Carolina.

And we do have that. But we also have some lovely open-minded people here. Carlos and I have never once felt anything less than polite good-manners and a sense of welcoming from people we've met and who know we're a couple. So, the image of South Carolina oftentimes belies the reality of South Carolina.

Unless you consider Senator Jim DeMint, who is, apparently the King of the Asshats in this state. Jim DeMint is against health care, although he says he's only against the Democratic plan while not producing a plan of his own. He thinks we're heading toward Socialism because that war cry is in vogue these days. But it's his stance against the LGBT community that really infuriates me.

Go figure.

Jim DeMint says, “Marriage is a religious institution. The federal government has no business redefining what it is. Governments should not be in the business of promoting a behavior that’s proven to be destructive to our society.”

Now, I'm going to beat that old familiar drum, because obviously DeMint isn't listening. Straight folks have changed and redefined marriage nearly constantly since its inception 5000 years ago, Senator. if it hasn't changed, then women would still be property, then marriage would be a tool to gain power and property, then women would be given to men as baby-makers, then you wouldn't marry outside your faith, then you wouldn't marry outside your race, and if a wife cheated on her husband she would be put to death, and there would be no such thing as divorce. People marry for love, for money, for status, fort power, these days; and people opt not to be married and to live together and raise a family without marriage. Marriage is in a constant state of flux.

And as for that "behavior that’s proven to be destructive to our society" statement, Senator DeMint, please explain to me, citing examples, what exactly I have done to destroy society. I work, I pay my taxes, I vote, I clean up after my dog. What do I do that is destroying society, and, again, give me examples.

And while Senator DeMint cringes at the notion of a gay or lesbian president because he feels "[i]t would be bothersome to me just personally because I consider it immoral," I like the idea of a gay or lesbian president or governor or mayor, or even a gay or lesbian senator from South Carolina. Open minds create change, Senator DeMint, and yours is so closed, so narrow, that you will never see what's right in front of your face.

Tidbits

Another one for the team.
Meredith Baxter Birney, the mom from Family Ties, the queen of the Lifetime movie, is a big old Lesbian. Apparently, although she's been married three times and has five children, she realized about seven years ago she was gay, and has been in a relationship with a woman for the last four years.

Well, good for you Meredith. And welcome. I am sure the Kenmore Toaster Oven, the Eddie Bauer Tool Belt, and your own copy of the Gay Agenda--replete with instructions on how The Gays will destroy the world--are in the mail.

Enough with the Tiger Woods business. Sheesh, we're sending more than 30,000 men and women back into Afghanistan and one of the the top stories in the news is Tiger Woods hitting a tree with an Escalade and not a golf ball. Is he cheating on the missus? Ain't nunyabidness. Did his wife beat him up? Nunya. We've got more important things to worry about than a single car billionaire accident.

find something better to talk about, something important!

But not this:

Speaking of ridiculous news stories, this whole Party Crasher nonsense is working my last Smallville nerve. To Tareq and Michelle Salahi I say, "Shut your friggin' yaps. The more you go on TV to tell us how devastated you are that people think you crashed a White House party, the more you look like fame whores looking for that tick-tick-tick fifteen minutes of fame. Shut up, already."

Admit you crashed the party because you have no soul and are looking for anything to fill that blackened charred hole in your being.

There are rumors abuzzin' that former Miss South Carolina, Lauren Caitlin Upton, will be one of the racetestants on the next installment of The Amazing Race.
God, I hope she gets a map if she has to go to The Iraq, and such as.......

Rupert Everett has been speaking out again. And he's trotting out his favorite non-story that gay actors should stay in the closet if they want to have successful careers in film. He says his film career stalled because he became more well-known for being gay than being an actor. I say, "Rupert? Darling? You haven't lost parts because you're gay. you've lost parts because you make idiotic choices in film, and if your films don't make money, that's why you don't get jobs. It's revenue, baby, not sexual orientation that stops you from getting work. Try closing your mouth......Close it!.....and start looking for good roles, not that gay best friends of Madonna shtick you've been doing for a decade or so. M'kay?"

Oh, me, oh, my, I am going to miss this.
Not!