With upcoming New Hope pride pageant, past winners share message of hope for LGBTQ+ youth

For Amita Mehta and Kevin Gilmore, pride extends well beyond wearing the crown.

As the outgoing Mr. and Miss New Hope Celebrates prepare to hand off their titles at the fourth annual Pride Pageant on Sunday — the two reflected over their past 12 months as drag king and queen and their shared mission to spread a message of acceptance, love and hope for LGBTQ+ youth.

After all, they each know all too well what it means to not fit in.

Mehta came to the U.S. in 1972, the only girl in an Indian family of six, who were forced to start their lives over in central Pennsylvania after tens of thousands of Asians were exiled from Uganda.

“Being Indian, we had every strike against us. First, we were refugees, we’re living in a trailer park, we were as poor as can be … and here I am feeling less than as a girl,” said Mehta, a business strategist, now 51, living in Doylestown Borough with her wife, Jessica.

As for Gilmore, he had been a young Black kid growing up in Bucks County in the 1960s and early '70s, while grappling with the ambiguity of being called “pretty” all the time.

“I was born Black and effeminate. I had no choice but to like myself or I was going to get nowhere,” said Gilmore, who lives in Langhorne.

Societal expectations were constantly at play throughout the years, whispering in their ears to remain silent and invisible in a world that insisted on sorting people by gender, sexual orientation and race.

“I don’t think people realize what it takes to get up every day and deal with the outside world before you even leave your house, how much persecution there really is on you. It’s daunting to feel like you’re not who you feel like you really are, and you’re not who these people feel like you should be,” Gilmore said.

But instead of making themselves smaller, Mehta and Gilmore leaned into the art of drag, which allowed them to creatively express the parts of themselves that defied so-called gender norms.

“It’s like finally being seen,” said Gilmore, a drag queen performer who also goes by the name, Phoebe Manntrappe.

“And I think if you can be a positive figure and be larger than life, it only leads other people to look up and say, ‘I can do that, too’.”

Last year was the first time the competition was open to drag kings.

Mehta saw it as a chance to, not only express her masculine side, but also step up for gender equality in a male-dominated world.

“I think it’s empowering on so many levels,” Mehta said. “It’s almost like fighting the patriarchy for me. It’s like fighting what the rules are … whether it’s culturally or as a woman in society.”

By breaking through these intersectional barriers, Gilmore hopes they can pave a smoother path for younger generations that follow.

“I took it for granted that little kids don’t see this that often, not in our color, our culture, you don’t see it,” Gilmore said.

“So, when the little kids came up and said to me, ‘I never thought I’d ever see somebody who looks like me in this position and I feel like I could do anything now,’ it really for the first time hit me that what I’m doing is more than just putting on something. You affect people, I just had no idea that I affected people in that matter. ”

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Pride Pageant returns to New Hope this weekend

New Hope Celebrates Pride Pageant is back for its fourth year, where drag queens and drag kings will compete in several categories, including presentation, talent, formal wear and onstage Q&A for the title of Miss and Mr. New Hope Celebrates.

The pageant will take place on Sunday, March 24 at 6:30 p.m. at the Bucks County Playhouse.

How to attend the New Hope Celebrates event

Tickets can be purchased at https://bcptheater.org/shows/nhc-pageant.

General admission tickets are $55 and include a pre-show social at The Deck Restaurant & Bar at the Bucks County Playhouse that will serve light hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar starting at 4 p.m. Former Miss New Hope Celebrates king and queens will be present for a meet and greet at the pre-show social.

VIP tickets are available for $75 and include all of the above, plus two complimentary drinks at the pre-show social.

All proceeds from the event will support NHC’s 2024 Pride celebration.

Resources and support for the LGBTQ+ community

• Planned Parenthood Keystone’s Rainbow Room is a youth center in Bucks County for LGBTQ+ youth and allies ages 14 to 21. They have two centers in Langhorne and Doylestown. More information on their programs can be found at linktr.ee/rr_rgb.

• Roy G. Biv is an LGBTQ+ youth and allies program designed for ages 10 to 14. More information can be found on their Instagram page.

• PFLAG Bucks County is a support group for parents, family members, friends and individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. They meet twice monthly, both virtually and in-person. For more information, visit pflagbuckscounty.org.

• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Gender and Sexuality Development Program offers psychosocial and medical support for gender nonconforming, gender expansive and transgender children and youth up to age 21 and their families. For more information, visit chop.edu.

• GLSEN is a multi-racial intergenerational LGBTQ+ organization working nationally and locally to transform K-12 educational systems in the United States. For more information, visit glsen.org.

• GLAAD is a non-profit organization focused on LGBTQ advocacy and cultural change and working to ensure fair, accurate, and inclusive representation and creates national and local programs that advance LGBTQ acceptance. For more information, visit glaad.org.

• The Trevor Project is the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people, providing information & support to LGBTQ+ young people 24/7, all year round. More information can be found at thetrevorproject.org.

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Reporter Michele Haddon covers small business, economic development, community revitalization, art and culture for The Intelligencer and Bucks County Courier Times at PhillyBurbs.com. Please considering supporting local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Pride pageant in New Hope celebrates art of drag, LGBTQ+ and diversity