IU 'queens' come OUT tonight

There's never a break for graduate student Jason Jones, president of OUT and one of this year's organizers of the 11th Annual Miss Gay IU Pageant. Operating on two hours of sleep and pure adrenaline, he's swamped with last-minute errands to get ready for the pageant that will be held this evening at 8 p.m. in the IU Auditorium.\nJones and many others have been putting tremendous effort into preparing for Miss Gay IU since the beginning of the school year. OUT's mission is to promote the welfare of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered, and it spends a good portion of its time on this event because it's the group's biggest fundraiser. \nLast year's proceeds covered all of OUT's annual expenses and auditorium costs, and it even had $1,500 leftover to give to the GLBT group.\nSome of the residence halls contributed money to the pageant, along with the GLBT office, Lascivious Exhibitions and HoosierParty.com. Bloomington Bagels will donate food for the event.\nThere are currently four competitors scheduled to compete this evening, a number Jones said will probably increase.\n"Additional people always show up at the interview process. If they've already turned in an application and are feeling lucky that day, they'll show up," Jones said.\nLast year more than 1,000 people attended the event, which makes it one of the most-attended drag pageants in the country. Jones said even Miss Gay USA Nationals is hard-pressed to get this much attendance.\nDoug Booher, the auditorium's interim general manager, said the pageant used to be held in Alumni Hall, but the popularity outgrew the accommodations. So last year it was moved to the auditorium. \n"The demand was getting higher. They had to move here because of audience size and what they wanted to do in terms of making it more professional with sounds and lights," he said.\nBooher has witnessed a lot of events in his nine years working at the auditorium, and he said Miss Gay IU is one of the most entertaining and fun to host. \n"The crowd seems to have a really good time," he said. "It's definitely entertaining for the staff, and the local talent gets a chance to act in a place primarily used by professional touring company," Booher said. \nThe pageant will feature performances from drag queens Staci Stevens and Veronica Ayres, both previous Miss Gay IU pageant winners, Vicki St. James and the Bloomington Drag Kings. \nDella Licious, one of this evening's competitors, is eager to see their performances and a little nervous about her own. Since both of her back-up dancers are out of commission, she has to compete in her first pageant with only her costume and stilettos to accompany her 6-foot-5 frame.\nBut she said she's not too concerned about her performance because she's practiced her routine countless times in her car, lip syncing to the radio and wearing out her shocks from dancing along to the music. \n"I'm going out there just to have a good time, but if I get a crown on my head, that's even better," Della Licious said. "I just really want to give it to (the audience)"