MILWAUKEE — This Pride Month, we are spotlighting a trans pageant that will soon take place right here in Brew City.
We met with this year’s Mr. & Miss. Trans contestants representing Wisconsin this year, competing for the national title: Wynter Zamora and Trever Topel.
Mr. Trans Wisconsin 2023 Contestant Trevor Topel believes the pageant, “Shows we're beautiful people we're just like everybody else.”
A pageant where you can look forward to all the categories you’d expect like tuxedos and gowns, swimsuit competition, and state costumes.
Trevor said, “I did last year a cow vest, and then I wore cheese earrings, it was very fun!”
They are both studying hard to be ready for the Question and Answer section.
“They ask really good questions very - ones you don't think about, “ Trevor said.
We asked how it feels to wear the sash for Trans Wisconsin. Trevor said, “I feel sexy!”
Above all the pomp and pageantry, Trevor says the biggest outcome from this event is the feeling of belonging, “Some people have lost their families coming out so this is where they can come to see family.
The pageant has grown from just a handful of contestants when it began in 2019 to more than 40 contestants come the first weekend of November.
Last year’s Mr. Trans USA Dylan Drobish hopes this year’s pageant will make those who compete feel special, “I don't think people in our community get that same feeling a lot. We don't get often treated like rock stars.”
For Wynter, representing Wisconsin in this pageant for the first weekend of November, will mean so much more, “Represent my community. Especially that I'm a trans woman of color I'm an immigrant and a Latina…”
Trevor said, “I wanna be that hero for someone else when I needed it when I was younger.”
Dylan said the exact location in Milwaukee for Mr. and Miss. Trans USA Pageant is still being nailed down. So is the sponsorship, “We are entirely non-profit so we're working really hard to raise the funds for this pageant.”
