[PICS] Burst with pride: The first LGBTQI+ pageant innie Delft is a moerse success
|Published
FREEDOM TO ALL: Mr and Miss and Prima Diva LGBTQI+ Delft 2023 contestants all on stage
In honour of pride month in June, Delft hosted its first LGBTQI+ pageant under the theme Freedom on Friday at Delft Civic Centre.
Organisers Jonathan “Luvalot” Jantjies and Cuan du Plooy hosted Mr and Miss and Prima Diva LGBTQI+ Delft 2023, and said the show will be an annual event on the calendar.
The pageant had contestants from all age groups with the oldest being veteran drag queen Sandra Dee, 64, from Hanover Park, who was honoured with a lifetime achievement award alongside Samantha Fox, 62.
Jonathan and Cuan said the inspiration behind the event was due to members of the LGBTQI+ community falling victim to hate crimes.
“It became shocking that we are dying from crimes that we normally associate with gangsterism,” Jonathan said.
“That motivated me to start a pageant where I wanted to make the community aware that we are equally equipped and capable of making a difference in people’s lives.”
Contestants strutted their stuff in swimwear, evening wear and opening wear and went all out to make sure they looked top notch.
The winner of Mr LGBTQI+ was Dyllan Areshaad, the Prima Diva prize went to Jada Stellenboom, 45, while Larissa Gordon, 34, a transgender educator from Heathfield, was crowned Miss LGBTQI+ Delft 2023.
Larissa said: “This platform gives me the opportunity to show people what I’m about and be a representative for transgender females in our community, the narrative needs to change because we are all human beings.
“My biggest challenge was my workplace, working with kids and having to shift their mindset and how diverse our community is because I came in as a male and am now transitioning to a female.”
Jonathan added that it was not “a runaway pageant”, as the winners are required to go back and work in the Delft community and also assist in his soup kitchen.