IN THE END, TRADITION RETAINS HER CROWN AT MISS LONG BEACH PAGEANT
By Dave Wielenga
Kristin Bopp, a 23-year-old student at Cal State Long Beach whose extensive experience as a beauty pageant contestant includes the Miss Greater Lakewood title of 2010, was selected Miss Long Beach on Sunday evening at the Grand Events Center. The crowning brought a dramatic—and traditional—conclusion to an event that had returned to the public’s radar this year by the participation of its first openly lesbian contestant, Jenelle Hutcherson.
Hutcherson, a 25-year-old hair stylist whose year-long campaign transformed her into an activist for pan-societal acceptance of lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender sexual orientations—and to the verge of becoming an icon–made it all the way to the finals Sunday night.
“So history has been made,” Hutcherson wrote on her Facebook page. “No crown and sash tonite, but doors opened that will never be shut again, many new friends and a whole new respect for the pageant world and what guts it takes to get up on that stage. On to Miss California USA!! 
thank you all for your inspiring words and support.”
Hutcherson’s decision last fall to seek the title of Miss Long Beach surprised even her girlfriend, Masa Zokaei, a free-lance journalist who broke the story of the pageant’s first openly contestant in GreaterLongBeach.com. KRISTIN BOPP But in a manner similar to Hutcherson’s campaign, Zokaei’s story aimed high and reached deep.
After acknowledging the obvious historical precedent of Hutcherson’s pursuit, Zokaei illustrated its greater significance and wider relevance. In a poignant account that is sometimes startling in its honesty, Zokaie explored and revealed unsettling mix of feelings that flooded her when her new girlfriend suddenly became an even-newer beauty pageant contestant. By capturing and sharing this gurgling stew of pride, insecurity, love and fear—a recipe everyone has sampled in one situation or another—Zokaei helped lift Hutcherson’s accomplishment from simple, statistical, first-ever status into the realm of HUTCHERSON ON LEFT, BOPP ON RIGHT real life.
9 Comments
First she was Miss Lakewood. Now she is Miss Long Beach. Can we expect to see her crowned Miss Huntington Beach next month, followed shortly afterwards by Miss Las Vegas?
Congrats to all the new Long Beach titleholders:
Rebekah Bennett, Mrs. Long Beach 2012
Kristin Bopp, Miss Long Beach 2012
Anna Haubrich, Little Miss Long Beach 2012
Haley McDonald, Miss Teen Long Beach 2012
Congrats also to contestant Jenelle Hutcherson. Pushing boundaries is a good thing and I am so pleased that you learned a new respect for pageant competitions which, especially in Long Beach, are truly about many types of personal development and no longer only about beauty.
How about respect for TRADITION ??
This was an embarrasment for LB, a dog and pony show.
What if by some crazy chance she would have won, would you be proud of Janelle representing LB in the Miss California pageant wearing boardshorts and a wifebeater tee and a dog collar ? I’ll bet that the majority of people really do not feel as proud as the LB gay community does about this joke.
This was not about being gay this was about being an in your face freakazoid, boosted by a ‘Go Girl we are queer and we are here’ cheering squad crying out to be accepted Justin, who does some great things for LB, made a mistake with this one.
she might be moving offshore in a westerly direction, miss avalon next.
hi NO: I could not disagree more with your opinion. I know a lot about the history of both Long Beach and the Miss Long Beach pageants, having actually volunteered at several of them. The pageants have changed (I would say matured) over many years. They started as nothing but a showcase for what we used to define as beauty and poise and only for a specific age and race demographic. They have *thankfully* matured since then to include additional age demographics and races and now, in this latest maturation process, to openly include different sexual orientations. Unlike many other sorts of change we have seen in our city in recent years, I think this one is a very constructive one.
Besides, all Justin has wisely now done is allow someone special like Jenelle to compete openly as who she is, where others before her may have no doubt felt compelled to pretend to be someone they are not.
In this most diverse large city in the nation, I think the Miss LB Pageants have now taken one more step toward being more truly representative of this wonderful and amazing city.
looks like someone got lost on their way to the P-T comment sections.
Does anyone suspect dogs will be added to the beauty pageant next year? “Unlike many other sorts of change we have seen in our city in recent years, I think this one (would be) a very constructive one.”
“I’ll bet that the majority of people really do not feel as proud as the LB gay community does about this joke”
Pageants are really a corny, anachronistic joke anyways. Which of you, or anyone you know, watch Miss America / USA / Universe or really give a crap about who enters or wins? Do they even broadcast those silly pageants anymore?
LBer,
So I guess there will be no Ms and Mr Gay at this years pride week.
Just because you (and I ) don’t care much about pageants does not mean there are not alot of people that do. I tolerate a lot of things I find corny, anachronistic or offensive.
Running an overweight, studded, punked out woman in a pageant where beauty IS judged (hence the swimsuit comp, which she ironicly decided to skip by covering her body with baggy shorts and a shirt, while all along preaching to be proud of who you are and what you look like) proves that this was just a big joke.
Save the ‘beauty’ pageants for the lipstick lesbians.