Best In Drag Show is an annual fundraising event in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, originally benefiting the California-based

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, Aid For AIDS, a program of Alliance for Housing and Healing. Initiated six years after Aid For AIDS was founded in 1983, the bawdy fundraiser now supports Alliance for Housing and Healing, the non-profit that resulted from the merger of Aid For AIDS and The Serra Project in 2009.

History

The

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

fundraiser, an elaborate

drag show A drag show is a form of entertainment performed by drag artists impersonating men or women. Typically, a drag show involves performers singing or lip-synching to songs while performing a pre-planned pantomime or dancing. There might also be so ...

"beauty" pageant that features

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

performers as

beauty contest A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

ants, evolved from a small event in a private apartment in 1989 to successively larger theaters to hold the growing audiences. In the 1990s, the

Wilshire Ebell Theatre The Ebell of Los Angeles is a women-led and women-centered nonprofit housed in an historic campus in the Mid-Wilshire section of Los Angeles, California. It includes numerous performance spaces, meeting rooms, classrooms and the 1,238-seat Wilshir ...

was used, followed by the historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown

, which seats 1,800. A small group of friends in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

created the original show, Battle for the Tiara, a farcical beauty pageant aimed at raising funds for AIDS assistance through Aid For AIDS that was featured in a documentary in 1998, ''Battle For the Tiara''. The original Aid For AIDS fundraiser ran for 11 years. Following the death of its founder, Alexis Pittman, the original group took two years off. During the interim years, a version of the fundraiser named ''Quest for the Crown'' was produced by non-profit Aid For AIDS, the beneficiary. The original group returned to helm the show for executive producer Aid For AIDS in 2003 with the currently-named production, ''Best In Drag Show''. By 2009, more than $1.5 million had been raised with the new version of the show to help support the work of Aid For AIDS in Southern California. Both ''Best In Drag Show'' and ''Quest for the Crown'' are registered trademarks of Aid For AIDS.Aid For AIDS website www.aidforaids.net/index1.html""

Supporters

Numerous and notable celebrities have supported the show over the years, volunteering as ''pageant judges'' and donating money. Many return year after year. ''Best In Drag Show'' celebrity supporters (and from the prior two versions of the fundraiser) have included

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, Jeffrey Drew,

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(Aid For AIDS Honorary Board Member),

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, and

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. Aid For AIDS major supporters Charlie Sheen and Kathy Griffin (Griffin began opening the fundraiser as hostess in 2003) were honored with ''AFA Silver Anniversary Angel Awards'' at the nonprofit's 25th anniversary in 2009.AFA 25th Silver Anniversary Reception and Award Presentation - November 5, 2009"" Award-winning casting director Patrick Rush, who served as the fundraiser's Master of Ceremonies for 18 years, is an ongoing producer of ''Best In Drag Show'' and was a member of the volunteer team producing ''Battle For the Tiara'' since its first year. Aid For AIDS recognized his long-standing support in 2009 by establishing a scholarship, the ''Patrick R. Service Award'', in his honor. Rush, an Aid For AIDS nominee, was honored by The City of West Hollywood with the Paul Andrew Starke Warrior Award in 2005, presented on

World AIDS Day World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired immun ...

to outstanding members of the community working in HIV/AIDS services. Other ''Best In Drag Show'' supporters nominated by Aid For AIDS who received this award are Tom Pardoe (in 2007), producer, director and choreographer 2003-2010, and Jeffrey Drew (in 2008), long-time show collaborator and star performer. Drew became director and choreographer in 2011.

Awards

The ''Best In Drag Show'' volunteers were honored in 2010 by Christopher Street West (CSW) with the CSW Special Community Award. CSW annually produces the Los Angeles

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

Pride Festival and Parade (LA Pride).

References

External links

BestinDragShow.org
{{Drag performance HIV/AIDS organizations in the United States LGBT events in California LGBT culture in Los Angeles Drag events