Drag Queens and Beauty Queens

Introduction: Doing AC
At Boardwalk Hall[1] the digital marquee announces upcoming shows: a hip-hop concert, a comedy carnival, and tours of the largest pipe-organ in the world. To the right is Kennedy Plaza, and on the far right stands a life-sized bronze statue of Miss America. She holds a crown in her outstretched arms. Beneath that crown, a woman poses as her companions take pictures. They rotate until each has a chance. On the wall behind them are murals of prominent Miss America winners, including Suzette Charles, Miss New Jersey,1983, who served as Miss America in 1984 when Vanessa Williams lost the title in a scandal over nude photographs. Two little girls in flowery dresses fidget while they wait their turn to pose. A man feeds the seagulls from a dirty paper bag and is scolded by two policemen. In the distance, the Ferris wheel on Steel Pier changes colors, and past casino row, the small run-down stores line the Boardwalk; Peanut World, Irene’s, Big G’s Tattoos, Sally’s Psychic Shop, Massage Paradise, James Salt Water Taffy. Two tabby cats walk across the boards. There’s a beach colony of cats here; there always has been on the corner of New York Avenue and the Boardwalk.

To the right is the beach; to the left, framed by the Ocean Club and Ripley’s Believe it or Not! the wooden ramp descends to what used to be arguably the most famous, infamous, street in Atlantic City. Now, it is mostly empty, overgrown lots strewn with debris. Parking lots fill the rest of the spaces between random buildings. Philip and Joe, once denizens here, look around and then at each other. They both smile as they point to where favorite spots once stood. They tell stories, of sexual encounters, memorable performances, people who are no longer here to tell stories of their own. Some of these I imagine, they may not really want me to hear; or maybe they do.[2]

Atlantic City: A City “Down the Shore”[3]
Atlantic City is a place that defies simple description or explanation. It is in constant motion, like the ocean that creates its beaches and bays; a place always reinventing itself, the comeback kid, the underdog of cities. It lacks an industrial base; the economy is and has always been, based on tourism. Atlantic City, “The World’s Playground,” has entertained millions in its more than 150 years. The boardwalk has been its Main Street, its attractions always changing; bootleg alcohol, jazz, gay nightlife, and now casinos…but always against the constant backdrop-the beach. As with many tourist destinations, people move in and out, and like the tides, some wash ashore and stay for a while, and some recede back out to sea. And so too, the economic and social history of the city itself is a series of ups and downs, of economic booms and busts. The booster phrase “The World’s Playground” has given way to “Atlantic City: Always Turned On,” and now, in an effort to attract a younger, hipper crowd, a trendy, “Do AC”. 

Atlantic City’s volatility is bolstered by its renegade reputation. It has always been a place where cultural and social norms were challenged or ignored. The tourist-based economy of the resort town encouraged business owners to provide whatever was needed to make the visitors happy. During Prohibition, for example, this meant contraband alcohol. Atlantic City flaunted the country’s restrictive laws, acting as a mainstay for illegal production and sales of alcohol. Residents and tourists alike made their way to secret clubs or speakeasies or made bathtub gin at home. Organized crime syndicates emerged in the area to supply locally produced alcohol to the many customers demanding it across the country. Prohibition was essentially unenforced by the local authorities, and the city’s beachfront location and docks allowed rum-runners to bring their goods onto shore by boat. Add to this a powerful city crime boss, Nucky Johnson (made famous once again in the television series Boardwalk Empire)[4], who allegedly controlled everything from the smuggling operation to the law enforcement to the restaurants where alcohol was served, and Atlantic City was essentially a wide-open town, flagrantly violating the federal law. As Johnson famously stated unapologetically:

“We have whisky, wine, women, song and slot machines. I won’t deny it and I won’t apologize for it. If the majority of the people didn’t want them, they wouldn’t be profitable, and they would not exist.”[5]
Aided by its proximity to major population centers like Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, DC, and its reputation for unfettered fun, Atlantic City rapidly expanded. Between 1880 and 1940, it was known to be a premier world vacation resort. From the 1920s to the 1960s, Kentucky Avenue on the north side of town enjoyed a thriving jazz scene and vibrant African American culture. Numerous bars and clubs, like Club Harlem on Kentucky, and Chicken Bone Beach, a few blocks away on Missouri Avenue, presented the best talent and biggest stars from the world of jazz. Until the 1970s, Kentucky Avenue and its Black community was the pulse of the city and a mainstay of its tourist economy.[6]On adjacent New York Avenue, the gay population of Atlantic City exploded in the 1970s. This book is an effort to describe a portion of the history of New York Avenue in Atlantic City, the gay community and drag culture that thrived there from the 1960s through the 1980s, and the decline of gay nightlife in the 1990s. In doing so, I hope to add to the scant recording and analysis of communities of marginalized people, who rely principally on oral traditions to record their history. This is particularly important, since the AIDS epidemic in Atlantic City nearly wiped out an entire generation who might have passed down this lore to the next generation.

Where the “Gurls” Are: When AC was GayC[7]
Bryant Simon, in his book Boardwalk of Dreams, describes the rise and fall of Atlantic City as a tourist destination. In his words, Atlantic City “manufactured and sold an easily consumed and widely shared fantasy,” built upon a “grand deception.”[8] It was a place where White working class and middle class tourists, many the children of immigrants, could celebrate their inclusion in American society through their consumption in the posh vacation resort. But the exclusive nature of resort vacationing was made possible by the exclusion of people of color and other marginalized groups. Simon’s account is a stark reminder of the contradictions inherent and often invisible in all tourist economies, and Boardwalk of Dreams describes some of the ugly realities of racism and homophobia that created communities of poor, disenfranchised laborers who served as underpaid workers in the resorts. Two cities emerged—a “perfect White City—the Boardwalk, hotels, and theaters—and a funky “Midway” of nightclubs, street corners and backrooms.”[9]

This book in many ways, takes off where Simon’s book ends; it aims to describe the vibrant culture and lives of one of these communities living off of the Boardwalk.”[10] The gay community that emerged on New York Avenue and the adjacent winding Snake Alley was a place where gay men and women lived, worked, and celebrated gay life. The decade of the 1970s was the apex of gay life in Atlantic City; the thriving and boisterous gayborhood, a four-block area backing the beach, boasted over a dozen bars and nightclubs and a myriad of rooming houses catering to gay clients and residents. This picture of gay life is not simply nostalgic, nor is it meant to deny many of the ugly realities of the people living in a racist and homophobic society and eventually enduring the devastation wrought by the AIDS epidemic. Instead, it is an important illustration of the fact that despite, or possibly in spite of these circumstances, and the poverty and struggles that prejudice creates, the gay community in Atlantic City flourished. New York Avenue was not just a midway for tourists to gawk at a spectacle. It was a place the gay community called home.

Adjacent to the gayborhood, on Kentucky Avenue, the Northside was the center of African American jazz culture in Atlantic City.[11] Like the Kentucky Avenue jazz scene, which was an expression of African American culture, the drag scene on New York Avenue was intrinsic to its culture of origin (gay culture) but desired by outsiders. In the 1960s and 1970s, when liberation movements (women’s liberation, black power, gay rights, etc.) steered the direction of social and cultural reforms, the gay culture in Atlantic City produced, among other things, a vibrant drag performance scene.

Many of those who frequented the gay clubs afterhours were visitors from the entertainment industry. Popular entertainers and their crews—hairdressers, stylists, and choreographers, many of who were gay, found comfort and a welcoming environment in the clubs and bars on New York Avenue. Likewise, the Miss America Pageant has been held in Atlantic City almost uninterruptedly since 1921. For the production staff from the Miss America Pageant, each September, New York Avenue was a home away from home; for while the pageant contestants changed each year, the crew remained largely the same. Production crews were sometimes joined by the family and friends of pageant contestants at the clubs, although the contestants themselves were forbidden to attend.[12] The friendships formed between individuals in the local gay community and the Miss America Pageant crew in the clubs on New York Avenue only partially explains the strong connections both felt and functional, between Miss America, the gay community, and what would, in 1993, be birthed as the Miss’d America Pageant. This book is an effort to explore the important ways in which a portion of the gay community in Atlantic City has and continues to form its identity through its relationship to the Miss America Pageant, and how this same community has significantly impacted the evolution of the Miss America Pageant in return. 

Drag has been a fixture in the gay community in Atlantic City since the 1950s, enjoying its heyday in the 1970s. A quick tour of the Facebook Page New York Avenue in the 1970s attests to the vibrancy of the community and the ubiquitous drag scene there. Drag queens from Atlantic City speak about the 1970s with nostalgia and refer to the queens who performed in the clubs and bars—Dee Dee Lewis, Tinsel Garland, Chunkie Marinara—as legends, from whom they learned the craft of drag and developed a sense of belonging. The drag scene persevered in the 1980s despite the changing economy of Atlantic City and the devastating impact of HIV and the AIDS epidemic. Once a place to party for gay and straight alike, the threat of AIDS resulted the loss of many community members, and in the stigmatization of New York Avenue and the “gay lifestyle.”[13] The Miss’d America Pageant was created as a way to revitalize the gay community in Atlantic City from the damage wrought by AIDS and this stigmatization.[14] It was an attempt cope with the physical, social, and emotional impact of AIDS, and the threat that it and other forces posed to the survival of the gay community in Atlantic City. When creating a ritual to counter these threats, the gay community looked to the traditional functions of drag performance through the language of camp and to their local experience of pageantry, Miss America. Miss’d America utilized a traditional drag performance format when it first began. The show featured comedic skits and talent presentations. The songs were all prerecorded and lip-synched at the time of the performance. No winner was chosen in the first pageant in 1992. Over the next few years, the Pageant began to take on more of the Miss America Pageant format. A runway was built, a winner crowned, and eventually all four categories of competition were contested (swimsuit, evening gown, talent, and interview). This book describes the origins of the Miss’d America Pageant, and how the structure, function, and meaning of this pageant have evolved alongside the Miss America Pageant since 1993. 

Drag has become a much bigger part of popular culture since the birth of Miss’d America in 1993, in large part due to the popularity of the reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race.[15] The impact of Drag Race on drag performance and pageantry over the last 10 years is significant. In light of this popularization and the changing conversation about gender in American culture, the definition of femininity, masculinity, and drag itself have changed. This book explores the challenges the Miss’d America Pageant faces in light of these cultural changes, similar to the continuous challenge for relevancy posed to the pageant that inspired it, now referred to as Miss America 2.0.[16]

How This “Bitch is Turned Out”[17]
Chapter 1 begins with a brief overview of pageantry, and a more particular history of the Miss America Pageant,[18] Pageantry is a place where cultural values and identity are contested within the context of performed ideal femininity, and this is illustrated in the ways that the Miss America Pageant is structured and how it has changed in response to criticisms over the years, most prominently from feminists. The rise of drag pageantry is discussed as one means to present an alternative to hegemonic values and gender identities. Drag pageantry, is at one level an homage to cis-female[19] beauty pageants, and at another, a critique of the narrow presentations of gender that they present. The importance of the popularization of drag, principally through the popularity of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the impact this has had on drag pageantry is then discussed and illustrated in the Miss’d America Pageant.

Chapter 2 starts with a definition of drag and a discussion of the culture of drag performers within the gay community in Atlantic City. Drag culture in Atlantic City was a “community of practice” through the 1980s, after which it went into decline. Several shared practices are briefly described as well as the methods of developing these practices within the context of the local drag community. Important shared values and beliefs are described for the Miss’d America Pageant contestants as a description of a larger more dispersed community of practice that exceeds local boundaries. 

Chapter 3 describes in greater detail the character and history of the gayborhood in Atlantic City. The important meaning of place to the gay community is detailed in the remembrances of New York Avenue and the birth of the Miss’d America Pageant in response to the stressors that threatened the community. Traditions of volunteerism associated with the AIDS crisis were the prime motivators for the creation of the Pageant as one tool for fundraising along with other efforts made to combat the epidemic. Finally, the evolution of the pageant is documented, from its original local focus to its rise in national pageantry. 

Chapter 4 begins with a discussion of the importance of “camp” sensibility in drag performance and in gay culture. Drag performance is further explored through the experiences of drag performers who have participated in the Miss’d America Pageant. These ethnographic accounts are presented in light of the meaning and centrality of “camp.” The importance of camp in the Miss’d America Pageant—in drag style, performance, and language—is discussed, along with the changes in camp expression in the modern version of the pageant. The chapter ends by looking at the queering of the Miss America Pageant, most visibly in the birth and development of the popular Show Us Your ShoesTM Parade—a parade introducing each of the Miss America contestants in a playful context, whose origins are undoubtedly found on New York Avenue. 

Chapter 5 offers a comparison of the Miss’d America and Miss America Pageants through an examination of the four elements of competition: swimsuit, evening gown, talent, and interview. Depictions of femininity are framed as “object” —displays of the body in different comportments, and “subject”—performance in talent and interview. The ethnographic evidence shows that drag pageants and beauty pageants share certain values, including the value of hard work, perseverance, and talent, but differ in the way that they interpret the elements of pageantry and the meaning of individual expression. Whereas beauty queens value the ability to express individuality with the boundaries of conformity so as to have a wide appeal and not offend, drag queens push against boundaries and see creativity and uniqueness as valued qualities. Offense comes with the territory, as Sandy Beach once said after telling a joke the day after a celebrity killed himself, “Too early? It’s NEVER too early.”[20] They value instead the questioning of boundaries often resulting in offense but tempered with humor. Most of all they value creativity and individuality. 

How I Got the “Tea”[21] on Them
“Because you have seen something doesn’t mean you can explain it. Differing interpretations will always abound, even when good minds come to bear. The kernel of indisputable information is a dot in space; interpretations grow out of the desire to make this point a line, to give it direction. The directions in which it can be sent, the uses to which it can be put by a culturally, professionally, and geographically diverse society are almost without limit. The possibilities make good scientists chary.” ~ Barry Lopez[22]
My research in Atlantic City was carried out over a four-year period from 2016-2019.[23] I have tried to describe both of the iconic pageants of the resort town and the development of its vibrant gay community, so intimately related to pageantry. For much of the material I am indebted to current and former gay residents of Atlantic City, including drag queens and others who worked or partied on New York Avenue during its heyday. Intensive ethnographic fieldwork extended over three consecutive Miss’d America Pageants and to a lesser extent the Miss America Pageant, including interviews with organizers, contestants, and audience members. Every effort was made to hear the accounts of those who were present in the beginning, who created and participated in the evolution of Miss’d America. The ethnographic descriptions and quotations from informants were taken from recorded interviews and participant observation. An addendum lists the dates of these recorded interviews and observations. The text to follow will reference these and formal observations as “fieldnotes.” I am indebted to every contestant of the Miss’d America Pageant who gave me their time, knowledge, and often very personal stories. In particular, to the early local queens, Morgan Wells, (Lemon Fresh) Joy Marnier, Alexia Love, Brittany Lynne, and first and foremost HRH Mortimer and Sandy Beach, whose personal narratives encapsulated gay Atlantic City and who were always available for assistance, information, and clarification. Finally, a surprising amount of information was gathered from Facebook postings (the New York Avenue in the 1970s group, and the Official Miss’d America Pageant Page), and published op-eds, commentary, and current events in the Atlantic City and Philadelphia local press, as well as in video recordings of past Miss’d America events. I am also indebted to John Schultz and Gary Hill, who graciously opened their Miss’d America Pageant archives.

I have made every effort to write an academically accurate and informative analysis in plain, jargon-free language. My hope is that this book will be accessible and useful to the community in Atlantic City, and that this might serve to inspire others to tell their stories. On occasion, technical terms or theoretical concepts were unavoidable. As much as possible, explanatory comments and references to useful academic resources are included in the endnotes of each chapter, rather than in the text for easier reading. As with any work, even one which is book length, so many stories, important stories, have been by necessity left out. In writing, every attempt was made to include all of those who were kind enough to generously share their lives with me. Though every attempt was made to accurately take account of this important ethnohistoric moment, people’s memories are imperfect, and sometimes accounts of dates and times and people were out of sync. Though I have tried to be as accurate as possible, checking printed materials and asking for clarification, know that the essence of each account is most important, as memories sometimes differ. The most poignant example of this came three years after I interviewed all of the “originals” from Miss’d America (as the drag queens from the first 10 years were called). They had all insisted there was no swimsuit competition until the 2011 pageant. I later viewed a 2002 video of an early Miss’d America Pageant, with drag queens parading in swimsuits. In fact, the eighth annual Miss’d America Pageant 2000 (held in September of 1999), was entitled “TarzAnne: in the Swimsuit Adventure.”[24]

This book is very personal to me, and in many ways, I am an insider in this culture. Ruth Behar, in her explorations into the anthropology of experience, notes poignantly that when the observer allows oneself to be vulnerable, their fieldwork can “break their heart”. Certainly, I am and continue to be deeply impacted by this fieldwork and the people who are its subject. I have lived near or in Atlantic City for over 30 years and have watched many of the events that I am about to describe unfold. I am queer and a participant in the ongoing activism in my community, and many of those interviewed I count as acquaintances, if not friends. As a result of this research and my community engagement, I have been asked to sit on the board of ACGLBT Alliance,[25] the nonprofit organization that at the time, ran the Miss’d America Pageant as a fundraiser every year, although my role is in youth education. Despite these “insider” and intimate connections, I don’t think I could have chosen a more “male” venue for fieldwork (local lesbians called the drag scene “the dick farm”). Drag is a part of the gay community in Atlantic City and elsewhere, but its activities have a decidedly male focus, its culture dominated by men. Drag performers have volunteered and continue to lend their time and energy to various gay causes, predominantly those of interest to gay men (AIDS related, as a prime example), as is true of the Miss’d America Pageant and other efforts in the Atlantic City drag community (gay bingo, fashion shows, cabaret benefits, etc.). As Fiona Moore asserts, drag is “associated with masculinity through its symbolic and social links to gay culture…its activities have a male focus.”[26]

I stand as an anomaly as well, in otherwise conservative and provincial southern New Jersey, where I am a “liberal outlier”. I am also a shoobe (local term for tourist/nonnative). Some of the tensions in the local gay community arise from these oppositions but delving further into that topic is outside of the scope of this analysis. It does serve to illustrate, however, that the gay community in Atlantic City in general, and the drag community there in particular is anything but homogeneous. I hope, therefore, that this research adds to the published work of others across disciplines[27] by challenging conventional accounts that too often treat gay identity as “unproblematically monolithic,”[28] and hope that my analysis is read as an ethnographic description of a particular community of people, experiencing a unique set of historical circumstances in a dynamic and ever-evolving place.

The names of most informants and drag queens have been maintained, in part because they are local or national celebrities and wanted their names indicated (as drag names), although pseudonyms may be used for their birthnames along with those of local residents.[29] I have chosen to refer to those interviewed as drag queens with the pronouns she/her/hers, even when they might not use these feminine pronouns exclusively. On occasion, I use the male pronouns he/him/his, for the same informant, when they speak from the perspective of their male (boy) persona. This choice was made for clarity rather than as a statement about pronoun choice or identity. 

As with any local history, emotions associated with relationships and events run high, and the recounting of events is in some cases contradictory. This is certainly the case for views on how and why New York Avenue and the once vibrant gay community there went into decline. It is also true for the way in which the Miss’d America Pageant itself has evolved. I have chosen to present many of these controversies, and varied remembrances in the book without resolving them. I am sensitive to the conflicted experiences of so many people who love Atlantic City and feel ownership of their beloved pageants. I have no intention of causing any rifts or sufferings to a community already under stress from so many sources- historical, social, political, economic, and epidemiological. In fact, I hope this research is testimony instead, to the resiliency of a local gay community and its integral contributions not only to this struggling and oldest of American tourist destinations and to the creation of a now nationally renowned gay circuit pageant, but also to the Miss America Pageant, a national, iconic institution, which has laid claim to the [feminine] ideal in American Culture.
 
Notes to Introduction 

            [1] What is now known as Boardwalk Hall was previously called Convention Hall. When the new convention center was built in Atlantic City, in 1997, the name of Convention Hall was changed to Boardwalk Hall to avoid confusion. In common parlance, Convention Hall now designates the large arena-like room where events like Miss America, stadium football, and concerts occur. Some literature and individuals use the names interchangeably in interviews and in print. However, most individuals distinguish Convention Hall from the new Convention Center. In writing this book I use the name Boardwalk Hall unless naming it otherwise through direct quotation.
            [2] fieldnotes, August, 2017.
            [3] The phrase “down the shore” is used by locals, New Jersey and Philadelphia residents to describe a trip the beach. One does not go “to the beach” for a holiday, but “down the shore.”
            [4] Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, The Mob Museum, https://themobmuseum.org/notable_names/enoch-nucky-johnson/. Enoch Lewis “Nucky” Johnson inspired the Nucky Thompson character in the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire. He was the son of the powerful sheriff of Atlantic County and following in his father’s footsteps was elected Atlantic County sheriff in 1908. Nucky Johnson’s approach was to rule Atlantic City with money and influence, rather than violence: “Johnson ruled with a velvet hammer. His power was such that he never needed violence to get his way,” the New York Times wrote in 2014. He personally profited from Prohibition and was under constant investigation by anticorruption reformers and the press. Johnson was eventually forced to resign but remained a powerful force in the Republican party in Atlantic City until his death in 1968.
            [5] Nelson Johnson, Boardwalk Empire: The birth, high times and corruption of Atlantic 
     City (Medford NJ: Plexus Publishing, 2002), 89. 
            [6] Ralph Hunter, Atlantic City African American History Museum, and Henrietta Shelton, Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation, personal communication.
[7] “gurl” is a term of endearment and solidarity used amongst drag queens, or drag queens and their friends or allies.
            [8] Bryant Simon, Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America (London: Oxford University Press, 2006), 6.
            [9] Simon, Boardwalk of Dreams: 46. (quote). The “midway” is a reference to the area that used to lie on the outskirts of the Victorian era Columbian Exposition held in 1893, what became known as the World’s Fair. Though the Exposition itself was a celebration of scientific discoveries and the advancements achieved in European (White) society, the midway offered more exotic attractions, eroticism, freaks of nature, and ofttimes criminality. People went to the midway to view the other, to gawk at the spectacle of the uncivilized. For a history of popular entertainment and the role of the midway and it’s “freak displays” in understanding culture, see John Bogden, Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Fun and Profit (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988). For a history of the racial aspects of the midway see Gail Bederman, Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States, 1880-1917 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995).
            [10] Simon, Boardwalk of Dreams: 46
            [11] Johnson, Boardwalk Empire. (reference) For a history of the African American Community in Atlantic City, see Nelson Johnson, The Northside: African Americans and the Creation of Atlantic City, (Plexus Publishing, 2010). 
            [12] According to the strict regulations, the Miss America Pageant forbids contestants from participating in potentially unsavory behavior. A fuller discussion of the code of conduct is discussed in Chapter 3. The current policy can be found on the Miss America Website (www.missamerica.org).
            [13] The AIDS epidemic resulted in the increased stigmatization of homosexuality worldwide in the 1980s and 1990s. The increased stigmatization of the gay “lifestyle” and increased homophobia in Atlantic City is reflective of this larger phenomenon. For a discussion of AIDS related stigma in among heterosexuals see Gregory M. Herek, “Illness, stigma, and AIDs.” In Psychological aspects of serious illness 1990, P. Costa & G.R. Vanden Bos, eds. (Washington DC: Proceedings of the American Psychological Association, 2010),103-150, and Gregory M. Herek and Eric K. Glunt “An Epidemic of Stigma: Public reactions to AIDS.” American Psychologist, 43 no.11, (1988): 886-891. For a description of stigmatization within the gay community see S. Sengupta, Sengupta, S., B. Banks, D. Jonas, M. S.  Miles, & G. C. Smith, “HIV interventions to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma: A systematic review.” AIDS and Behavior, 15 no.6, (2011): 1075-87 and Peter Smit, Michael Brady, Michael Carter, Ricardo Fernandez, Lance Lamore, Micheal Meulbroek, Michel Oheyon, Tom Platteau, Peter Rehberg, Jurgon Rockstroh and Marc Thompson. “HIV-related stigma within communities of gay men: A literature review,” In: AIDS Care nos.3-4, (April 24, 2012): 405-412.
            [14] Ritual enactments like pageantry may be understood as revitalization movements in anthropology. A revitalization movement is an inherently political movement, since it is an attempt to regain a sense of power or self-determination by a culture under significant stress or threat. Revitalization movements coalesce around a common value or practice that becomes a symbolic expression of that culture or subculture. In this case, drag performance can be seen as such a ritual enactment, and Miss’d America as a particular expression of Atlantic City’s Gay subculture. 
            [15] RuPaul’s Drag Race is a VH1 reality competition that premiered in 2009. For 10 years, Drag Race has been hugely popular, spawning a renaissance for drag performance in both the LGBTQ and heterosexual community. Drag performance is now a part of popular culture, rather than exclusively gay culture, largely due to the popularity of the show.
            [16] The Miss America Pageant was rebranded in 2018 by Chairman Gretchen Carlson as Miss America 2.0 (Miss America Pageant Program 2019). This resulted in significant changes to the pageant’s philosophy and structure, including the elimination of the Swimsuit (Fitness) competition, the runway, and the iconic theme song “Here She Comes.”
[17] Thhe phrase “how this bitch is turned out,” is the way local drag queens describe the the creation and running of a drag show like the Miss’d America Pageant.
            [18] From 2005-2013, The Miss America Pageant was held in January in Las Vegas, Nevada, rather than in Atlantic City. In 2014 the pageant returned to Atlantic City and moved back to its original date in September, the first weekend after Labor Day. Traditionally, Miss Americas selected in September are named Miss America for the following year. 
[19] Cisgender (sometimes cissexual, often abbreviated to simply cis) designates people whose gender identity matches the sex that they were assigned at birth..
            [20] Sandy Beach, fieldnotes 2019.
[21] “Tea” is drag lingo for information, but often refers to gossip, or information that is disgused, and then revealed.
            [22] Barry Lopez Arctic Dreams. (Open Road Media, 2013), 190.
            [23] Appendix I: Fieldnotes and Interviews; Appendix II Winners of the Miss’d America Pageant, the venues in which the pageant was held, and the hosts.
            [24] Printed program for the Miss’d America Pageant 2000, private collection of Robert Hitchen (Sandy Beach).
            [25] Atlantic City Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender (ACGLBT) Alliance is a nonprofit organization composed of individuals and businesses who support gay business and promote social justice for LGBTQ+ individuals in Atlantic City. The Alliance sponsors social events and currently runs the Miss’d America Pageant as its signature event. Proceeds from the event support local LGBTQ causes, including MANNA (an organization feeding those infected with HIV/AIDS), SJAA (the South Jersey AIDS Alliance), and a LGBTQ Activism Scholarship at Stockton University). 
            [26] Fiona Moore “One of the Gals Who’s One of the Guys: Men, Masculinity and Drag Performance in North America.” In Changing Sex and Bending Gender, edited by Alison Shaw and Shirley Ardener, (New York: Berghahn Books, 2005): 107.
            [27] see Rusty Barrett, From Drag Queens to Leathermen: Language, Gender and Gay Male Subcultures. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), Adam Geczy and Vicki Karaminas, Queer Style. (New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, Plc.), 2013, and Alison Shaw and Shirley Ardener, eds. Changing Sex and Bending Gender. (New York: Berghahn Books, 2005).
            [28] Mary Bucholtz, “Editor’s Preface.” From Drag Queens to Leathermen: Language, Gender and Gay Male Subcultures. Authored by Rusty Barrett, xv-xvi. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017):xv
            [29] The term “boy name” was also used interchangeably with “birth name” by drag queen informants. Appendix III has a list of drag queens and in some cases, members of their entourage who were interviewed for this book.