{"id":193804,"date":"2026-04-11T23:44:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T23:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/193804\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T23:44:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T23:44:48","slug":"miss-island-queen-kicks-off-5th-amateur-drag-pageant-fundraiser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/193804\/","title":{"rendered":"MISS ISLAND QUEEN KICKS OFF 5TH AMATEUR DRAG PAGEANT & FUNDRAISER"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Kirby Myers, front, creator of the Miss Island Queen amateur drag pageant that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Samuel\u2019s House, introduces this year\u2019s five pairs of contestants and coaches. MARK HEDDEN\/Contributed <\/p>\n

\u201cOnly in Key West\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The phrase has been said in reference to many, many observations over the decades. Only in Key West do city officials have a serious debate about nudity and nipples while defining nudity rules for the 10-day Fantasy Fest extravaganza. Only in Key West do roosters roam freely, presumptuously even, through open-air restaurants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And only in Key West could an amateur drag pageant among (mostly) straight men succeed in raising more than $400,000 for Samuel\u2019s House, a local nonprofit organization that protects and supports abused women and families.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s exactly what the Miss Island Queen Pageant, created and coordinated by Kirby Myers for Samuel\u2019s House, has managed to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now in its fifth year, Miss Island Queen pairs local men (and women), who sign on to be contestants, with professional drag queens to coach them on everything from evening gowns, talent acts, makeup and, yes, in some cases, hair removal.<\/p>\n

\"\"Coach QMitch, left, studiously gives pointers to his drag protege, Scottie Jahn aka \u2018Auna Bender\u2019 at the April 7 kickoff party for Miss Island Queen 2026. MARK HEDDEN\/Contributed <\/p>\n

An April 7 happy hour event at Hugh\u2019s View officially kicked off the 2026 Miss Island Queen affair. The pairs of contestants and coaches spend about a month raising money for their campaigns at a slew of hilarious events. Each individual event is listed on the \u201cMiss Island Queen\u201d Instagram and Facebook pages.<\/p>\n

But the final decisions and crowning moment take place, this year, on May 4 at Key West Theater, where each contestant walks the runway and offers the crowd a performance of some sort while the audience melts down in laughter and gleefully throws cash onto the stage to show their support. (As in so much cash, it has to be swept up by giant push brooms between each performance.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly can\u2019t believe it\u2019s year five,\u201d Myers said. \u201cMiss Island Queen has become a testament to the spirit of this community \u2014 centered in love, inclusivity and the willingness to show up for others. It\u2019s a powerful reminder that when we come together with purpose, we can create something impactful and full of fabulous, over-the-top energy all at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

This year\u2019s teams of contestants and coaches include:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scottie Jahn aka \u201cAuna Bender\u201d and coach QMitch Mark Huffman, aka \u201cIda Ho\u201d and coach Maya Montana\u00a0 Justin Harris aka \u201cTrixie Dixie\u201d and coach Beatrix Dixie Becky Damian aka \u201cManny Mansplain\u201d and coach Erin McKenna aka \u201cHugh Janus,\u201d who won as \u201cHugh\u201d in Miss Island Queen\u2019s first year. Nick Mazza aka \u201cNicky Gaga\u201d and coach Jessica Deveraux Success! Please check your email for confirmation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kirby Myers, front, creator of the Miss Island Queen amateur drag pageant that has raised hundreds of thousands…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-193804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}