'If a man can look this good'

As the lights dimmed to signal the start of Friday's Miss Gay IU pageant, the crowd erupted in exuberant applause. \nGradually a disco ball sent bullets of light around the IU Auditorium and the orchestra pit filled in as a platform lifted six drag queens to the stage to begin the 12th annual competition. The gay pride rainbow of ball gowns was only the beginning of a splattering of artificially sweetened hair and makeup that left an intoxicating residue on the audience.\nThe drag queens appeared calm and confident, though just 15 minutes before curtain call the backstage dressing rooms quaked with last-minute searches for bobby pins and acrylic nails. \n"It's a lot of fun, something unique and different ... It's just a different form of theater," competitor Angie Steven said. "I'm certainly proud of IU for doing it."\nThree participants, Angie (first runner-up), Savannah St. James (second runner-up) and Della Licious (2003 Miss Gay IU), competed in this year's pageant, which was comprised of an onstage question round, an evening gown display and a talent section. Veteran drag queens Vicki St. James and Brandi Ice hosted the competition, providing comic relief in between the numerous lip-syncing performances.\n"If a man can look this good," Vicki said looking down at her clinging dress, "there's no excuse for an ugly woman."\nBackstage the queens were living caricatures of this statement. An arsenal of makeup cluttered everyone's dressing room; preparing for the performance takes most at least an hour.\n"I feel like a deer caught in headlights with these eyelashes," Angie joked, her eyes like slits underneath the weight of her two-inch lashes.\nThough up-close the queens' makeup could be peeled off like the layers of an onion -- from the audience they appeared iridescent. The combination of theatrical performances, dramatic makeup and sequined, brightly colored costumes effectively bewitched the audience throughout the three hour event. \nBut Miss Gay IU is not only about physical appearances, as personified by the first section of the competition, the onstage question: What issue are you most concerned with and how would you address it with the title? Della answered the question by highlighting the importance of acceptance, also noting that as the newly appointed DJ at a Fort Wayne radio station, she promises to be a vocal force.\n"I grew up the fat kid and then I became ... this," Della said, motioning to her oversized figure. "It happens. And then I became the fag and the queer. The hateful words kept coming at me. But stepping on stage with all of you I feel accepted. Some people are ignorant and can't see the hand in front of their faces. People who are ignorant are holding us back."\nThe performers are not alone in recognizing the social implications of such an event. Graduate student Jason Jones judged this year's pageant for the first time -- the past three years he helped to coordinate Miss Gay IU.\n"It's a figurehead for events on campus that want to be open to different sexualities," Jones said. \nAfter the question round, 2002 Miss Gay IU Sugar Blackman sauntered to center stage in a blood-red bikini with peacock-feathered trim, a matching red cape grazing the ground behind her. In moments adoring fans mobbed the front of the stage, all eagerly reaching to give Sugar a dollar or two. By the end of her impressive performance, she struggled to balance her large peacock fan and the giant mound of bills.\nMr. Gay IU Ian King also performed, though his was a bit more risque than Sugar's. Singing along to the Naked Eyes' '80s hit, "Always Something There to Remind Me," he pulled bras and underwear out of his pockets throughout his performance. \nEven more daring was Della's appearance during the talent part of the competition. Dancing and singing to Macy Gray's "Sexual Revolution," she stripped off an oversized coat to reveal rhinestone-covered nipples and a mound of fake hair coming out of her bikini.\n"The crowd is fabulous, I'm loving the crowd," Della said during intermission. \nAfter Della was crowned Miss Gay IU 2003, she was honored with a spotlight performance of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful." While tightly clutching her bouquet of flowers, her bottom lip quivered and her eyes welled up with tears as she sang along: "I am beautiful, no matter what they say."\n"I came here expecting to have a good time," Della said, "and that's what I did"