ABOVE: Come OUT St. Pete has launched its inaugural royal court contest. Photo courtesy COSP.
ST. PETERSBURG | Come OUT St. Pete (COSP) has announced its inaugural “Come Out As You Are” virtual drag contest will be held Aug. 13-Sept. 7, inclusively designed to find LGBTQ ambassadors ahead of its fourth annual celebration.
COSP advocates for community awareness and acceptance of all sexual orientations and gender identities with events that celebrate “coming out of the closet and into the world.” That will culminate this year with its festival currently scheduled for Oct. 17.
“Come OUT St. Pete invites you to participate in our ‘Come Out As You Are’ virtual drag contest,” organizers shared Aug. 11. “As part of our inclusivity outreach into the LGBTQ+ community, we are hosting a virtual contest that will blur all gender lines as we search for our 2020-21 Come OUT St. Pete ‘Come Out As You Are’ Royal Court.”
The virtual pageant will feature four winners. Organizers are seeking contestants who perform as drag queens, drag kings and those who identify as either transgender or nonbinary. First place winners in each category will receive $250 cash, a headshot package and other prizes.
Video submissions were initially accepted for each category in three-day increments, but deadlines were expanded Aug. 16. Entrants from each category and within a 50-mile radius of St. Petersburg are welcome to apply until Sept. 6.
Contestants must submit a video featuring presentation and talent for consideration. The former should include a three-minute visual representation of a garment or costume with one or more of the inclusivity Pride flag’s colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, black, brown, light blue, white and light pink. The latter should feature a lip sync, live vocal or other type of performance no longer than six minutes.
Once entries are accepted, they will be available for the public to view on the organization’s website. Judges will then choose finalists for a virtual interview.
Community judges include fan favorite area activists and entertainers Victoria Michaels, Jaeda Fuentes, Kori Stevens, Esme Rodriguez and Ripp Lee. They “will determine our winners in each category – and you will be able to see their reactions as they watch videos, and watch live virtual footage of our finalists being interviewed,” COSP explains.
“Our beloved Tampa Bay LGBTQ+ community will also have the opportunity to choose our ‘Come OUT As You Are’ community choice winner,” they continue, “a Mr./Ms./Mx. Congeniality of sorts.”
This year’s COSP Queen, COSP King, Mr./Ms. COSP, Mx. COSP and community choice winner will be unveiled virtually Sept. 7 in a socially-distant ceremony streamed from Enigma in St. Petersburg. Michaels, who is also Miss COSP 2019, shared details in a video Aug. 11:
The inclusive court was first conceptualized by longtime LGBTQ activist and St. Petersburg newcomer Loralei Matisse. She joined COSP’s board earlier this year as co-chair to help strengthen her new community however she could.
Matisse says expanding COSP’s pageantry to be more inclusive was a natural fit for the nonprofit. “There is so much going on in the world, where we are learning how to have different conversations and how to include and embrace each other,” she explains. “We need to do that within our own community as well.
“I talked to a number of different board members and we expanded to the royal court,” Matisse continues. “I think it’s a really beautiful thing because of the representation.”
COSP’s search for drag queen contestants is now underway. You can watch a short video and read more below:
“We’re going to do our best right now within our first time doing this,” Matisse says. “We’re going to learn, we’re going to grow, we’re going to do some work. We might, hopefully, learn how to have better conversations, how to change our language and how to speak and respect one another all the time.”
COSP’s virtual drag contest will be held Aug. 13-Sept. 6 with a virtual crowning ceremony Sept. 7. Its fourth annual festival is currently scheduled for Oct. 17 but subject to change in response to COVID-19. For more information about the contest’s rules and obligations or to enter, visit ComeOUTStPete.org/Contest.
