And the 50th Miss Gay America is…

After coming up short seven times, Dex Poindexter, better known as drag queen Dextaci, was crowned Miss Gay America 2022 at the end of the 50th edition of Miss Gay America pageant, held on January 20, 2022 in Little Rock, Arkansas. She succeeds Miss Gay America 2020-2021 Pattaya Hart, and is the first contestant from North Louisiana to win the national title.

Miss Gay America is a national pageant for female impersonators. The organization was founded in 1972 and is based on the Miss America contest. Contestants compete at various city, state, and direct regional preliminaries for the chance to advance to the official Miss Gay America title. It is also the only national pageant that prohibits transgender competitors or contestants who have undergone any type of feminizing plastic surgery below the neck.

The categories in the Miss Gay America competition are analogous to those featured in the Miss America pageant, such as talent, evening wear, and interview.  “The last category is male interview, which is very specific to the Miss Gay America pageant system,” Poindexter said. “It’s the contestant out of drag, out of female wardrobe and attire. It’s an 8-minute category where they really ask you the different things that make you the best candidate for the job to become the next Miss Gay America.“

Growing up, Dex Poindexter wanted to be a ballerina, a cheerleader and the man who refilled Icee machines at convenience stores. “And I wanted to be Miss America,” he said. He would wrap himself in a blanket to pretend he was wearing an evening gown. He would wear his swim trunks and strut around in front of the television while contestants paraded across the stage in their swimsuits. He would find something to wear on his head like a crown to pretend he had won. “My mom always told me, ‘Well, you know little boys can’t be Miss America because they’re little boys.’”

Poindexter kept performing, becoming active in the Strauss Theatre Center as a community actor, winning Karaoke competitions and studying vocal performance in college. His first foray into performing as a drag queen came during the fall of 2007, his senior year of high school at West Monroe. He had served on the student council throughout high school and usually dressed up as a cheerleader during the annual powder puff game, a flag football game where students swap gender roles. The student council sponsor suggested that Poindexter try to be on the homecoming court, but the sponsor worried that his name wouldn’t convert easily into a girl’s name.

At home one day while he was planning for the powder puff game, Poindexter’s mother told him that one of his older sisters had been arrested. “I’m like, ‘Oh god, what happened?’” Poindexter remembered. “She said, ‘Possession of ecstasy.’ Ping!” Dextaci, he thought, would be the cutest girl name. “It stands alone. I think it’s very iconic. Madonna — you know who she is. Cher — you know who she is.”

Poindexter’s costume for the powder puff game was a salmon-colored gown with big shoulder pads his mother wore to sing with the church choir. “I left high school in drag and when I go back to my reunion next year, hopefully I’m Miss Gay America.”

Poindexter didn’t start performing as a drag queen regularly until almost two years later, but he has worked toward becoming Miss Gay America since. He has performed as a female impersonator for 12 years, and has competed eight times for the national title. Poindexter said he never felt discouraged or derailed from his dream.

“The biggest thing, through the years of competition, was the continuous output of money, emotional investment, and always asking for assistance from your support network,” Poindexter said. “Now winning, while it’s not as much as a heartache competing, it’s also still going to require effective game-planning and being proactive with my support network just to make sure the bells and whistles can still go along with being Miss Gay America.”

Poindexter referred to the title as the “ambassador,” the “CEO” and the “spokesmodel for Miss Gay America pageantry.“

“She has to travel the country and appear at every preliminary that directly goes to her give-up, such as Miss Gay Oklahoma, Miss Gay Missouri, Miss Gay Louisiana, Miss Gay Texas,” Poindexter said. “She serves as the person who orientates the judges as to what we’re looking for, but also provides the contestants with a recipe of success on what the judges are looking for.“

Poindexter said winning the title is significant, especially coming from a traditional background.

“I feel to win something of the caliber like Miss Gay America, it really does blow the hinges the door off of the hinges of such a conservative, bible-belt type area,” Poindexter said. “A lot of people think that something like Miss Gay America probably would never happen here but I’m definitely so proud of myself for really breaking down those barriers and really pushing the envelope for people that it really doesn’t matter where you live or how you live your life. Anything is possible, most especially a small-town guy, like myself, from Monroe to win something of such caliber and prestigious like Miss Gay America.“