Female impersonators vie for title of Miss Tri-State All Star in Ross

Post-Gazette.com – By Doug Oster, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Kourtney Brown grimaced as she slowly pulled duct tape off her chest in a dimly lit room at the Holiday Inn Pittsburgh North Hills. “This is actually what we go through; this is all part of the life of being a female impersonator,” she said with a long sigh.

Kourtney is not her real name and she’s not a woman at all, but a 42-year-old man from Sewickley. The duct tape adds some cleavage, just one of the tricks learned over an 18-year career. Her partner, Bill Ewing, was getting another dress ready as she changed outfits for the 16th annual Mr. and Miss Tri-State All-Star Pageant held Sunday for the seventh consecutive year at the hotel in Ross.