Fat, gay and proud: a new kind of Venezuelan beauty queen

[EFerrari]

Fat, gay and proud: a new kind of Venezuelan beauty queen

Music swells, lights flash and the contestants strut on to the stage, waving and blowing kisses. All wear high heels, bikinis and wide smiles.

It is another beauty pageant in Venezuela, a self-styled "beauty superpower" which worships physical perfection and has won the two most recent Miss Universe titles. But this show in Caracas is different. Even from the back of the theatre you noticesomething striking about the contestants. They are men. Large, chubby men.

Welcome to Miss Fat Gay Venezuela, a pageant with a new type of queen. The contest, the first of its kind, smashes taboos in a society that equates beauty with svelte, cosmetically enhanced women.

"We want to show that we too can be beautiful and sexy," said Alexander Armas, 50, an organiser whose rotund figure has earned the nickname Compote. "We're invaded by images of thin people. It's time to do something about it."

By flaunting homosexuality, cross-dressing and ample curves the contest embraces and subverts Venezuela's passion for pageants.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/06/venezuela-gay-beauty-pageant

Video at link.

[chandler2]

1. Did they succeed?

"We want to show that we too can be beautiful and sexy," said Alexander Armas, 50, an organiser whose rotund figure has earned the nickname Compote. "We're invaded by images of thin people. It's time to do something about it."


I guess it depends on your definition.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

2. i accidentally un-recd this

d'oh