I can’t believe I didn’t blog about this before. NYC holds, every year, a beauty pagent for lesbians/queers. It used to be called Miss L.E.S. after the Lower East Side, a neighborhood that had many gay friendly places (including Babeland). Now, with the gentrification of that neighborhood, many of the queer spaces (but not Babeland) have been forced out to other areas so the pagent is now called Miss LEZ.

Regardless of what it’s called, it’s an amazing night. Representatives from queer businesses all over New York compete for the title in all the traditional pagent categories: Platform, Swimsuit, Interview, Talent, and Evening Gown. The entire event is promoted and hosted by Murray Hill, our resident drag king and the “hardest working man in show business”.

This year’s event was one of the recordbooks. I thought all of the participants were great, but our own Miss Babeland blew them all out of the water. With a tap dancing routine, witty answers to questions, and an evening gown called the Tangerine Dream, I couldn’t think of anyone I wanted to win more. And it appeared that the judges (Michael Musto, the WauWau sisters, and World Famous BOB, to name a few) agreed, Miss Babeland won the title!! It was quite the night.

If you haven’t been to this event, I strongly recommend going. It’s a great way to support the queer community and it’s a lot of fun. And, if you live in New York, stop in to one of our stores and the raining queen can help you pick out a vibrator or a dildo. Sex advice from celebrities. What could be better than that?