Pageant News Bureau - Miss Gay Metropolitan Tokyo 2004

In 2003, our bosses at PNB made a bold decision. They said, "Go ahead and do a story about that gay pageant."

This was revolutionary. In our long history, we had reported on beauty contests and scholarship competitions, men's pageants, model searches and bikini showdowns. We had even covered a nude pageant (we sneaked into the dressing room and photographed the contestants before they could undress). But nothing gay until 2003.

It turned out to be an eye-opening experience. The pageant that our bosses were referring to was Miss Gay Metropolitan Tokyo 2003. It was the first staging of this competition, which is open to Filipinos (or should they be called Filipinas?) living in the Land of the Rising Sun. We found the contestants gorgeous, the presentation tasteful and the welcome very sincere.

We didn't know what kind of reaction to expect from readers, who are mostly mainstream pageant fans. To our surprise, the response was largely positive. Maybe too positive. PNB received more offers to cover gay pageants than it could ever have handled, even if it were doing nothing else. So little changed.

Miss Hannou, Ma. Aleck Bouveck Centinno, was the winner, as well as the pick of Internet fans. The first runner-up was Miss Akabane, Nikki Normanson de los Reyes, and the second runner-up was Miss Hiratsuka, Ana Mara Gabriela, who was judged best in swimsuit. The third runner-up was Miss Oomiya, Nina Ricci Alagao, who was best in evening gown, and the fourth runner-up was Miss Shin Tokorozawa, Rica May Andrada, who was also Miss Congeniality. The Miss Photogenic honors went to Miss Chiba, and Miss Ginza was best in traditional Philippine costume.

But did we really make history with that first article about a gay pageant? Absolutely. It's only been one year since the article was published, and already there are gay people all over the pageant world!