Each
October,
thousands
of
gay
men
from
Washington,
D.C.,
Maryland
and
Virginia
get
dressed
in
their
finest
drag
or
Halloween
fare
for
an
evening
of
fun
and
good-natured
competition.
But
the
event
in
question
isn’t
a
race
down
17th
Street;
it’s
an
annual
drag
beauty
pageant
that
takes
place
at
a
large
Washington
hotel.
The
Miss
Adams
Morgan
Pageant
has
been
entertaining
gay
audiences
for
16
years,
but
has
managed
to
evade
nearly
all
media
coverage
in
that
time
by
holding
steadfast
to
its
self-proclaimed
status
as
a
“private
event.”
The
Dupont
Social
Club,
which
organizes
the
event,
has
posted
a
“no
working
media”
rule
to
protect
those
pageant-goers
who
may
still
be
in
the
closet.
Last
year,
event
organizers
decried
a
decision
by
the
Blade
to
publish
photos
from
the
pageant,
though
the
Blade
obtained
consent
from
each
of
the
photos’
subjects
and
the
photographs
in
question
were
taken
in
the
public
lobby
outside
the
actual
contest.
But
now,
even
among
the
event’s
organizers,
there
are
some
who
think
it’s
time
for
the
pageant
to
“come
out
of
the
closet.”
“[Organizers]
claim
that
it
is
a
private
event,
and
they
don’t
want
to
be
outed
[by
the
media],”
said
one
source
involved
with
organizing
the
event
who
asked
that
his
name
not
be
printed.
“That’s
bullshit.
They
videotape
the
event,
and
they
sell
tapes
to
anyone
who
wants
one.”
The
source
was
skeptical
that
attendees
or
participants
would
be
outed
by
media
coverage.
“It’s
a
crock,”
he
said.
“You’re
on
stage,
you’re
performing,
and
it’s
Halloween.
Give
me
a
break.”
Jeffrey
Nelson,
one
of
the
event’s
organizers,
declined
to
comment
for
this
story,
other
than
to
say,
“It’s
a
private
event.”
Last
year,
a
number
of
event
organizers
wrote
angry
letters
to
the
Blade
after
the
newspaper
published
the
photos.
“We,
the
members
of
the
Dupont
Social
Club,
have
made
it
abundantly
clear
that
this
is
a
private
event
and
that
no
working
press
is
allowed,”
Steve
Alexander
wrote
in
a
letter
to
the
editor
published
in
the
Blade’s
Oct.
25,
2002
edition.
“The
Blade’s
blatant
disregard
for
our
request
is
both
unprofessional
and
disrespectful.”
THE
PAGEANT
IS
a
“major”
gay
event,
according
to
the
source
involved
with
organizing
it,
who
said
it
draws
about
2,300
people
each
year.
He
said
the
tickets,
which
cost
$50
and
can
be
purchased
from
pageant
organizers,
sell
out
“well
in
advance.”
This
year’s
pageant
takes
place
Oct.
18
at
the
Washington
Hilton.
Cocktails
start
at
7
p.m.,
while
the
actual
pageant
runs
from
8:30
p.m.
until
approximately
midnight.
The
pageant
began
as
a
relatively
small
affair
in
the
late
1980s,
with
only
a
handful
of
people
attending
but
has
grown
in
popularity
each
year
since.
The
event
has
also
evolved
into
a
fund-raiser.
During
last
year’s
pageant,
the
Dupont
Social
Club
presented
a
check
for
about
$15,000
to
Adoptions
Together
to
launch
a
program
to
place
children
with
qualified
gay
parents.
The
pageant
is
“completely
amateur,”
according
to
the
source,
who
said
professional
drag
performers
are
not
allowed.
Every
year,
the
pageant’s
winner
is
crowned
Miss
Adams
Morgan,
and
is
then
given
the
duty
of
helping
to
organize
the
pageant
the
following
year.
One
source
said
the
people
who
attend
the
pageant
come
for
its
“creativity”
and
“edginess,”
and
that
it
could
be
a
much
larger
event
if
organizers
made
it
public.
But
he
speculated
that
the
relative
exclusiveness
lends
some
caché
to
the
event.
“They
could
easily
sell
double
the
amount
of
tickets,
arguably
triple,”
the
source
said.
“I
think
part
of
it
is
they
keep
it
exclusive
and
they
make
it
more
desirable.
If
it’s
a
private
event,
people
are
going
to
want
to
go
more.”
