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NYC Caribbean Gay Pageant promotes tolerance and acceptance
http://www.gbmnews.com/articles/4411/1/NYC-Caribbean-Gay-Pageant-promotes-tolerance-and-acceptance/Page1.html
Antoine Craigwell

Antoine B. Craigwell graduated from Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York with a double major in psychology and journalism. As a journalist, he has written for several publications. His articles have appeared in Fortune Small Business (FSB), the Villager Newspapers in Northeastern Connecticut, The Bronx Times Reporter and The Bronx Times, The Amsterdam News, and recently for The Network Journal, in New York City.

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By Antoine Craigwell
Published on 08/18/2009
 
A first ever gay fashion show

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) - Members of the Caribbean gay community are scheduled to hold the first ever gay fashion show on Sept 19, 2009, at Unity Fellowship of Christ Church on Atlantic Avenue, between Georgia and Alabama avenues, in Brooklyn.

In a press release announcing the "2009 Gay Caribbean/USA Pageant - An Effort to Foster Tolerance," the organizers, Fabulous Lucians, ask: How do we work to foster gay tolerance within our community? One way is to create an environment of openness, the release says. As a grassroots group with origins and close ties to the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, the Caribbean Pageant follows on a 2004 fashion show, the St. Lucian's Gay Diva show.




Frantica Boujoules, St. Lucia
Hemish Gervis, pageant's coordinator, says that following the favorable responses from the Gay Diva show, the inspiration for this event came from the desire of the many gay men in the New York area, who have origins in the Caribbean, and who wanted to participate in a fashion show to encourage more tolerance and acceptance from their countrymen and women, many who are homophobic, often acting out in violence against the gay community.

"Only five men from St. Lucia participated in the 2004 event, but the response from the community was so overwhelming that with other men from other Caribbean islands wanting to be involved, it was transformed to become Fabulous Lucians," says Gervis. Pageant contestants representing Caribbean countries are Mimi Mancini, from Jamaica; Frantica Boujoules, St. Lucia; Rehanna B, Barbados; Madame Fleur de Fleur, Martinique, one of the French Caribbean islands; and Vanessa Flowers, from Guyana.

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A first ever gay fashion show

By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) - Members of the Caribbean gay community are scheduled to hold the first ever gay fashion show on Sept 19, 2009, at Unity Fellowship of Christ Church on Atlantic Avenue, between Georgia and Alabama avenues, in Brooklyn.

In a press release announcing the "2009 Gay Caribbean/USA Pageant - An Effort to Foster Tolerance," the organizers, Fabulous Lucians, ask: How do we work to foster gay tolerance within our community? One way is to create an environment of openness, the release says. As a grassroots group with origins and close ties to the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, the Caribbean Pageant follows on a 2004 fashion show, the St. Lucian's Gay Diva show.





Frantica Boujoules, St. Lucia
Hemish Gervis, pageant's coordinator, says that following the favorable responses from the Gay Diva show, the inspiration for this event came from the desire of the many gay men in the New York area, who have origins in the Caribbean, and who wanted to participate in a fashion show to encourage more tolerance and acceptance from their countrymen and women, many who are homophobic, often acting out in violence against the gay community.

"Only five men from St. Lucia participated in the 2004 event, but the response from the community was so overwhelming that with other men from other Caribbean islands wanting to be involved, it was transformed to become Fabulous Lucians," says Gervis. Pageant contestants representing Caribbean countries are Mimi Mancini, from Jamaica; Frantica Boujoules, St. Lucia; Rehanna B, Barbados; Madame Fleur de Fleur, Martinique, one of the French Caribbean islands; and Vanessa Flowers, from Guyana.
Gervis says that the program intends to feature many side attractions, including a steel pan rendition, possibly performed by current Ms. St. Lucia/USA; solo vocals from Jamaican Andrew Joseph, and Travis Mims, who was an American Idol contestant eliminated in auditions in Los Angeles; and dance performances from members of Something Positive, Inc. 
Vanessa Flowers, Guyana
The pageant itself would feature talent, couture swimwear, evening wear and interview segments. During the couture swimwear segment, the five contestants are expected to portray or pay tribute to someone or something from their respective countries, and in the interview segment, would be judged on their knowledge of current affairs and gay issues.
The pageant's three judge panel, Gervis says, are experienced in the performing arts, such as from Howard University College of Arts and Sciences; City College, City University of New York; and the director of Something Positive, Inc., an Afro-Caribbean-based dance theater company.
Mimi Mancini, from Jamaica
Fabulous Lucians is not working with any financial budget, adds Gervis, but are operating on a pay-as-you-go-method, and as a grassroots event, without sponsorships, has accomplished hosting it through the hard work and contributions of the members of the group.
"This is the first time we're doing it on a Caribbean level so as to be manageable. But more importantly, we have not gone out looking for sponsorships; we're doing it on our own," he says.
Gervis explained that while efforts to produce the pageant on a professional level constrained the organizers to limiting the number of contestants to five, putting the pageant together has largely been without any major challenges. 
Madame Fleur de Fleur, Martinique
The organizers had no trouble finding contestants or acquiring the venue, which came about through one of the group's members who works with Unity Hall and was instrumental in obtaining it for the show.
But, against the backdrop of recent violence against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, especially the two transgender women who were attacked and beaten up last month in Queens, and the story of the two straight Ecuadorian brothers who were attacked, where one was killed, while on the way home from a bar in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn; 
Rehanna B, Barbados
Gervis says that while all those who are coming to the event are adults and not teenagers, and ultimately responsible for their own safety, a cautionary statement would nonetheless be made during the pageant advising everyone to be careful and mindful of their surroundings when they leave the Hall after the show.
"We're advising people to take whatever precautions for their safety when they leave the pageant," he says.

Unity Fellowship Church, headed by Bishop Zachary Jones, is located in the Bed Sty section of Brooklyn, and Gervis says, is a regular place where many gay events are held and as such people in the neighborhood are accustomed to seeing gay men and women around.
While the contestants are hard at work in rehearsals and tickets are selling out, tickets could be obtained from Gervis, at 347-692-9428, another group member, John Celestine, at 347-792-4420 and from Olivia at Skilz Hair Salon located at 35 Dean Street.