Best In Drag Show is an annual fundraising event in Los Angeles, California, originally benefiting the California-based non-profit, 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.[1]
History
The AIDS fundraiser, an elaborate drag show "beauty" pageant that features amateur performers as beauty contestants, 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 was used, followed by the historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, which seats 1,800. A small group of friends in West Hollywood 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.[2] 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.[3]
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 Pride Festival and Parade (LA Pride).[11]
References
^Mendoza, Laura Alicia. "Non-Profits Merge: The Serra Project." Los Angeles Business Journal. March 30, 2009. "[1][dead link]". Retrieved November 24, 2009.
^Kelley, Shannon. "Visions of L.A. in the Age of AIDS - Battle for the Tiara." KCET Online."[2]Archived November 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine". Retrieved April 27, 2010.
^ abcAid For AIDS website www.aidforaids.net/index1.html""Aid for AIDS". Archived from the original on November 4, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2010."
^WeHo News staff. Best In Drag Show 2009. WeHoNews online. October 22, 2009.""Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)". Retrieved November 30, 2009.
^AFA Celebrity Fundraising Support""Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 9, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)"
^ abAFA 25th Silver Anniversary Reception and Award Presentation - November 5, 2009""Aid for AIDS". Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-17."
^here! TV network online - Straight Girl in a Queer World #41 Patrick Rush hosts AID for AIDS' "Best in Drag Show"[4]Archived November 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine"
^Aid For AIDS is partnered with The City of West Hollywood for the West Hollywood Memorial Walk and was headquartered in West Hollywood for more than 25 years. The non-profit continues to maintain a client service office there. "Aid for AIDS". Archived from the original on November 4, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2010.