How Gay Am I?

Well, let’s just say that I spent Saturday evening watching the Miss America Pageant and the free skate portion of the 2008 U.S. Women’s Figure Skating Championships. At one point, my (gay) friend suggested that we watch something else. I almost kicked him out of my apartment.



I’ve never been a huge fan of the Miss America franchise. It always seemed out of touch with the times. Well, things seem to be changing. The pageant was picked up by TLC and there’s even a Miss America reality show. That’s a very smart marketing scheme. The pageant was quite unusual. Some of the women even did push-ups on stage—very weird but kind of entertaining. Anyway, Kirsten Haglund (pictured above), the delegate from Michigan, won the Miss America crown. Good for her.

Now, let’s talk about figure skating. As some of you may know, I love everything about it. And my favorite American figure skater is the one and only Sasha Cohen; I’m sure you already knew that. So, last night, the defending U.S. National champion, Kimmie Meissner, was unable to outperform her younger rivals. In fact, she finished a disappointing 7th. Ashley Wagner, though lacking speed and grace, hit most of her jumps. Rachel Flatt delivered a great performance and finished 2nd. But the night belonged to Mirai Nagasu. This talented young lady beat 20 skaters for the National title—an impressive feat.



The future of U.S. women’s figure skating seems bright. And part of that optimism is due to a young girl named Caroline Zhang. She didn’t win the National title, but she is one to watch. She reminds me of Sasha Cohen. Beautiful!