On Tuesday night, Jan. 17, in preparation for Atlantic City’s big gay-themed weekend, with a series of events planned by Caesars Entertainment, as well as Resorts Casino Hotel, in relation to Saturday night’s Miss’d America Pageant, a ‘drag’ race was held inside Harrah’s Resort.

The drag queens drew a large crowd outside The Pool at Harrah’s to watch the race participants — dressed up as women — compete for prizes.  (See photos below!)

Six male contestants strapped on their stilettos and see if they’re coordinated enough to cross the finish line and the winner, John Ventura, of Vineland, (aka Stasia), received a two night stay at Harrah’s Resort, a $100 food and beverage credit, tickets to Out in AC Weekend, and a “romantic limo ride” with champagne. The other five non-winning participants each received a one-night stay at Harrah’s Resort and tickets to Out in AC Weekend.

Five of the contestants were selected by the radio station SoJO 104.9,

This ‘Drag Race’ is a precursor to Caesars Entertainment’s 4th annual Out in AC weekend which begins on Saturday, January 21st  at The Pool at Harrah’s Resort with the Miss’d America Loft Party, from 2pm-6pm and continues Sunday, January 22nd with Out of Control Brunch and Bingo from 11am-3pm at the Harrah’s Ballroom.

See this Thursday’s issue of Atlantic City Weekly for details on the Miss’d America Pageant and the related events in Atlantic City.

The Greater Atlantic City GLBT Alliance (acglbt.org.) and Schultz-Hill Scholarship Foundation recently announced the 14 contestants competing in this year’s Miss’d America Pageant, being held again inside Boardwalk Hall’s big ballroom on Saturday, Jan. 21, starting at 8pm.

So, without further adieu, the contestants are:

Gusty Winds (Daniel Alita) –  a New York City resident who has performed as Gusty for more than 16 years.

Sabel Scities (Timothy Byars) –currently from Sunnyside, New York, Sabel has traveled across the United States and held the title of Miss Fire Island in 2010.

Epiphany Get Paid (David Calen) – a New Yorker from California who has worked all over the country and travels to Europe to perform each year.

Jason CoZmo (Jason Cozmo) – originally from Salt Lake City, Jason was privileged to work with Liza Minneli in the Off Broadway production of “My Big Gay Italian Wedding.”

Navaya Shay (Thom Gait) – a Philadelphian who can currently be seen performing shows for Philadelphia’s OutFest and as a Dollstar at Voyeur Night Club.

Juliza Alezae (Alejandro Giordano) – from Wharton, New Jersey, Juliza is a full time beautician and makeup artist and has competed in many pageants.

Brenda Dharling (Brandon Glasgow) – currently from New York City, Brenda was a principle dancer for Philadanco and has performed in numerous shows and competitions.

Bootsie LeFaris (Justin Keller) – this southern belle from South Carolina is a drag queen who has been trained as a dancer and musical theater performer.

Chantel Reshae (Robert Martin) – born in Ames, Iowa, this entertainer has been the show choreographer for the Parliament House in Orlando, FL for over 10 years.

Victoria “Porkchop” Parker (Victor Parker) – born in Anderson, SC, Victoria has traveled the country and entertained in over 40 states, including TV appearances and over 100 pageants.

Lady Marisa (Anthony Sabato) – is an IT engineer working for a data communications company in her home state of New Jersey when not impersonating celebrities.

Tasha Salad (Scott David Sims) – this marketing director is a southern fried Kentucky diva who is winning the hearts of audiences everywhere.

Logan Hardcore (Logan Slaughter) – Logan is a New Yorker who enjoys dancing and does drag full time and enjoys going to different cities to perform.

Shi-Queeta-Lee (Jerry VanHook) – from Washington, DC, is a veteran actor with credits including the films Ca$h Money and XXX-2, as well as TV shows such as HBO’S The Wire.

Click here for photos from the 2011 pageant.

The judges for the 2012 pageant include Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News; Ryan Nickulas, TV personality, The A-List New York; TJ Kelly, TV personality, The A-List New York; Annika Bruggeworth, equestrian, former Playboy Bunny, owner of Premier Show Horse; Jeffrey Wilson of  Esquire; Michael Musto of the Village Voice; Hedda Lettuce, stage and movie personality; Bianca Del Rio celebrity drag personality; Diane Mitchell, from the Mike & Diane Morning Show on 95.1WAYV FM.

Carson Kressley

Hosting again this year is Carson Kressley (pictured), along with featured performer Martha Wash (”It’s Raining Men”) of The Weather Girls, and a performance by Erika Schiff .

Mark Dahl, manager of LGBT nightlife for Resorts Atlantic City, is this year’s writer and director and Miss’d America 2011 Kitty Hiccups (David Hyland) will be on hand for portions of the pageant.

The 2012 pageant coincides with Caesars Entertainment’s big OUT in AC weekend and related events at Resorts. Click here or here for details.

Tickets for the Miss’d America Pageant are $125, $100, $65 and $35.

Click here for more information.

Click here for video from the 2011 Miss’d America Pageant.

Click here for last year’s AC Weekly cover story.

ATLANTIC CITY — GayTravel.com, an online travel magazine geared toward the GLBT community has recently named Atlantic City as one of the “Top Five Up and coming Gay Destinations.”

Coming in at number two on the list, the city has developed a variety of new offerings for the GLBT visitor, from new nightlife spots, to musical theater and chart-topping entertainment.

Tourists interested in the party scene can head over to Atlantic City’s first gay casino nightclub, Prohibition, a 1920s inspired nightclub recently opened in Resorts Casino Hotel.  For more information on the club, click here.

On Monday, June 27, Resorts will host the Pride Party with Perez Hilton, an 8pm affair at the Resorts Casino Entertainment Pavilion that will include DJ.LO and other guest DJs, infamous blogger Perez Hilton (who once cracked wise that Atlantic City party-goers were a bunch of “rowdy guidos”) and more. Tickets can be purchased here.

Visitors may also check out the Westside Bar and Lounge, a popular club known for its world-renowned DJs, drink specials and dance entertainment. Additionally, Ram’s Head Inn offers one of the area’s GLBT community’s best kept secrets, “Out at the Inn,” hosted every Monday evening in the Inn’s low-key piano bar featuring live music, drink specials and performances.

A number of shows have recently debuted in Atlantic City including 42nd Street, the story of an aspiring chorus girl and her journey to stardom, and Believe – Diva’s In A Man’s World, the “don’t-miss” drag show of the year featuring famous celebrity impersonators paying tribute to Cher, Joan Rivers and Liza Minnelli, both running at Resorts.

Just a short stroll down the Boardwalk, the Tropicana Casino and Resort is hosting Best of Broadway, a musical celebration featuring excerpts from Broadway’s most popular shows.

Atlantic City is also home to annual events with a GLBT appeal, including the Miss’d America Pageant, held in January, a spoof of the Miss America Pageant featuring drag queens competing in categories such as swimwear, eveningwear and talent (view a gallery of this year’s pageant here); the three-day Out in AC event, a Halloween-inspired festival held in October with pool parties, celebrity appearances and much more, and the Valentine’s Day Group Wedding, Vow Renewal and Civil Union Ceremony, a non-denominational ceremony free for all participants.

Then there’s the Columbus Hotel….

Resorts Casino will be celebrating Gay Pride Week with a blockbuster GLBT event on June 27.

In its pursuit of attracting what is possibly one of tourism’s most sought-after demographic groups, Resorts is planning “an event to top all events” and further solidify its plans to accommodate members of the GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) community. Entitled “Pride Party with Perez,” the event

Perez Hilton when he appeared at the Borgata's MIXX last July 4 weekend.

comes on the heels of Resorts opening the first gay nightclub in a casino, Prohibition.

The Pride Party with Perez will feature an appearance by America’s best known Internet celebrity blogger — Perez Hilton — and will be hosted by the cast of Resorts highly successful production show Believe-Divas in a Man’s World. The show features some of the country’s best female impersonators like Cher, Bette Midler, Joan Rivers and many more.

Providing the music will be world-renowned DJ LO, who is the official DJ of LA’s Gay Pride Parade and TJ the DJ (formerly of Studio 6).

Tickets are $50 for the event and can be upgraded to VIP status for $25 more. The VIP treatment includes a one-hour meet and greet with Perez, a one-year membership to the GLBT, drink specials, hors d’ oeuvres and more. All proceeds from the upgrade will benefit the Atlantic City GLBT.

Learn more about the event details here at Resorts’ Web site.

Tickets can be purchased in advance from the Resorts box office at 800-736-1420, or by clicking here.

Perez Hilton at MIXX in July

The infamous Hollywood blogger Perez Hilton has jumped on the Atlantic City bandwagon, with his appearance this weekend in Atlantic City marking at least his second event here this year.

Folks may remember this past July 4 weekend’s debacle at the Pool at Harrah’s where P. Diddy’s appearance got scrapped after the promoters oversold the show, causing quite the commotion over at Harrah’s Resort, closing the property down for a while. (Diddy wrote on Twitter that he shut the town down. Don’t think so Diddy.)

Anyhoo, it was after this occurrence that Perez Hilton, who was also in town that weekend partying at Borgata, pretty much wrote his own obit in Atlantic City, calling the crowd assembled at the P Diddy show “rowdy guidos” on a Twitter post and implying that the same goes for most of Atlantic City’s summertime revelers.

Well, guess what? Perez is back in Atlantic City this weekend to hang with assorted “rowdy guidos” — and possibly guidettes — during Harrah’s Entertainment’s city-wide OUT in AC Halloween weekend LGBT-themed bash, which is bringing folks from Sandra Bernhard and Margaret Cho to Kristine W and JWOWW to Atlantic City for a number of special events from Oct. 29-31.

Welcome back Perez Hilton. We hope you’re getting paid well for your appearance and that you don’t run into any “rowdy guidos” at Dusk at Caesars Saturday night when JWOWW from MTV’s Jersey Shore show hosts. Good luck with that.