Monroe was crowned Miss Guy in 2012, making her the first national champion in Fayetteville. Miss Guy 2025 Ivy Dripp sat next to her locker room. “It’s the coolest proud experience I have ever had,” Dripp said. “And I just came back from the pride of the world, which is really cool.”
Earlier that afternoon, Dripp rolled the parade on the back of the Red ’89 Mercedes Convertible. She wore a black and gold sequin dress, red curly wig, big black sunglasses and of course her national title. She said it was a special moment to announce her name during the parade: “It’s crazy. It’s the coolest and most beautiful gift I’ve ever had.”
The NWA Pride Celebration involved six events throughout the weekend, including Glitterville and the Parade. It starts with trans parades and gatherings, followed by a two-day festival, a drag show brunch and a teddy bear competition. There is even afternoon tea and pool parties on Sundays.
The history of gay visibility in the area is immersed in protests. In 1977, the Arkansas Legislature introduced a bill declaring all homosexual acts a misdemeanor and subject to one year in prison. The community responded with a series of parades by students, residents and local businesses such as George’s, such as George’s.
Dripp, 35, from the cutoff of Louisiana, is certainly familiar with the challenges of queer growing up in the southern states. “My roots are back home. My family is back home. I want to go out with my nephew,” Dripp said. “So it’s not an option to feel like I have to leave to be myself and missing the whole aspect of my life.”
On the other side of the locker room, Monroe said she only attracted a few hundred people when she remembered Fayetteville’s pride. (At 41, she was the oldest frequently performed drag queen in Arkansas.) “We preached here to tolerance, acceptance and love for the community,” Monroe said. “Now we get it.”
Fayetteville Pride has hardly happened this year. After Glitterville, Porter noted that NWA equality struggled with the funding gap in December, and that the gap in NWA equality was large in the national DEI efforts under the Trump administration.
“Like a third of our budget, it could have been eliminated,” Porter said. So the NWA participated equally in the local fundraising weekend called NWA Give. They have raised over $10,000 over the past few years. This year, they raised $36,000.
“We explained to the community that this is what happened and we need you to step up,” Porter said. “It’s amazing that they did it. A lot of people stepped up to make sure we still can do it.”
Before the drag queen enters the stage of Glitterville opener evil), blue lights and smoke surged into the crowd as Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” crossed the speakers. The crowd looked forward to silence. Then, as the beats fell and Queens appeared, the room burst into cheers, whistles, fans’ partitions and screams.
“We cherish it here. We are loved here.” Monroe told me before going out. “That’s what’s really special about this field.”
