TheNassauGuardian.com – Nadine Brown, Guardian Staff Reporter
In Las Vegas and other cities in the United States and around the world, being a “Drag Queen” is a metaphor for making big bucks as an entertainer. Here in the Bahamas and the Caribbean at large, “Drag Queen” is merely a label that conjures up scary images for many parents.
However, a few intrepid souls have decided to fight the ingrained stereotypes and drag (no pun intended) Bahamians kicking and screaming into the twenty- first century where ipods, mp3, internet and drag queens form a part of the everyday vernacular.
There have been several competitions in which drag queens have battled for titles here in the Bahamas. These have normally been held in nightclubs, after hours, for gay people to attend and are not usually promoted to the public. However the latest one- Ms Drag Queen Bahamas – is being promoted to become more regularised and is held within the time slot that the more conventional pageants occur and in the same types of venues. The promoter advertises the event as a new form of entertainment based on the Las Vegas model.