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FLORIDA PAGEANT Miss Florida 1975 Noly Greer On Monday night* May 19th, in the beautiful Persian Room of the Marco Polo Hotel on Miami Beach the' curtain opened on what had been billed as “the ultimate pageant.” The beauty con testants swirled in resplen- dant chiffons, flashed gems in their bathing suits, and paraded and performed through a tense evening of Where We Are? Continued from page 2 think that society owes us our place, when in fact we must earn it (EGAD, RESPON SIBILITY). Society has a lot of work to do, but gays must clean up their act as well and show a willingness to fit in. People are interdependent, and we sharply limit our selves, if we restrict all contact to a small segment of society. The freedom to have one’s own lifestyle should be encouraged, but it cannot be done at the expense of the general welfare or by damning everyone else. We continue to suffer from society’s wishes for us. We bristle With our gay pride when offended, but we still secretly believe what they say about us. That cheery confidence is hard to come by when a person is beneath his peers. Many gays who claim to be “out” still have written on their personalities the finality of their way of life, and the attitude feeds on it self. From our side of the fence the struggle looks good, but when a spy sneaks into the enemy camp, things look pretty much the same. If we could mobilize the same contempt and hostility for heterosexuals as they feel for us, open warfare would be 1 inevitable. Society wishes to keep us confined, and will do so until we resist mightily. Separatism is not the answer.. keen competition. All the elements of a beauty pageant were there -- with one major difference. The lovely con testants w§re all men, men competing in the 1975 edition of the female impersonators Miss Florida Pageant, a Keith Landon Production. From start to finish, it was a glittering evening of en tertainment, excitement, and A gay state would obviously last for only a generation. We must ask ourselves if the struggle is worth it, and if not why not just give up? Maybe- it has happened already: why not just go on chasing cock and let the rest of the world go by? It won’t make any dif ference. It is going to take a lot of agitation to make any difference, An adult needs contact with other generations. A sub culture gay misses that if he or she is immersed in self- indulgence. Not that we have a monopoly on self- indulgence, but lack of serious personal respon sibility leaves a lot of discretionary time to be spent. The average straight supports his family, and what is left over he considers his. Is being gay a locked-in existence? If it is, liberation doesn’t exist. If it is, it is truly a dead-end to be avoided. Did God really goof with us, and if He did, is He still God? Theory and theology have the same root word, and we can only speculate about how we got this way. Billy Graham quotes the Bible to prove we are a perversion (whatever that is), yet we turn to religion for comfort. Most people prefer set patterns of behavior, predictability, security. They can’t handle new ideas, unorthodox relationships, iconclasts. We must grow within society or die. [L-R, front row] 1st Runner np with sponger Rene frnn Rene’s Lounge; 2nd Runner up with Chick from, City of Night; 3rd Runner up Hot Chock late with Robbie from Mama Dee’s Yum Yum Tree. [Second Level] Keith Landon, pageant producer; Noly Greer, Miss Florida 1975 with Pete Taylor from The Second Landing. priceless ihoments of totally pleasing outrageousness.' In short it was more than a pageant, it was an event! - Co-emcees David Vance, highly praised photographic artist, and Michael St. Laurent, prominent female impersonator, lead the evenings festivities with the grace and charm of a jet-set Hugh Scott and Barbra Walters. Highlighting the evening were devastating performances by Miss Florida 1973, Emore, as Shirley Bassey and show stopping Roxanne Russell with his highly acclaimed and eerily accurate rendition of Marilyn Monroe. The talent competition revealed artistry seldom ever seen in ordinary beauty pageants. Contestants daz zled the audience with a montage of props, costumes worthy of Ziegfield, backup dancers and a battery of gimmicks, tricks, and effects that would have confused Billy Rose.. Noly, Greer-, the contest winner, devasted the audience with “The Party’s Over,” in which he tran sformed from a gorgeous woman to a leather-bikini’d beef cake mode, and exited singing, “This is my life” aboard a roaring motorcycle. Bert Parks may not have approved but the audience certainly did, with an SRO, turn away crowd. The contest culminated with the traditional crowning and final walk of the runway. Noly Greer will reign for the next year with his court - First runner-up Lorie Del Mar, Second runner-up Bobby Lake, and Third runner-up Hot Chocolate. There is even a Miss Congeniality a part of the pageant tradition. This year it wnt to Tiny Tina. The pageant committee even has a highly honored humanitarian award dedicated to performer Billie Boots, Mime artist and im personator. Miss P. was honored for his contribution to entertainment with that award. We will have to agree with producer Keith Laadon’s advertising. The female impersonator’s Miss Florida Pageant is with out a doubt the ultimate pageant. Subscribe INDEPENDENCE DAY IS ALL A 4 YOU! ZS TEA DANCE Sat, Sun, Mon FREE DISCO BOGGIE EVERY NIGHT! GOURMET DINING OCEAN IN FORT POOLSIDE LUNCHEON LAUDERDALE YES! I WANT TO SPEND MY 4th OF JU^Y WEEKEND ON THE OCEAN AT THE FABULOUS PINK HOTEL. Please send me all the details. Name. Street Address. City/State MARLIN BEACH HOTEL 17 SOUTH ATLANTIC BOULEVARD FORT LAUDERDALE. FLORIDA 33316 . (305)523-6551