Miss Gloriousole Miss Fountain City 2006 winner Miss Gloriousole, AKA Dennis Ralph, admires the people in our LGBT community who "live out loud and in colour." Who are you and what's your background? Miss Gloriousole, AKA Dennis Ralph. I live in Hamilton. I have been an artist, teacher, theatre director and performer for 25 years and now use the forms I have learnt to create Miss Gloriousole. And I'm the winner of Miss Fountain City 2006! Why did you decide to enter Miss Fountain City 2006? I entered Miss Fountain City as it is seen as the pinnacle of drag and popularity in the Waikato community. The popularity is a by-product, where crowns and coronets are concerned. During the competition I felt prepared for a change, having created a multi-faceted wardrobe to match the comic performance. It was great to feel levelled and in competition with one's peers – or those who have yet to attain the status that comes with being the Next Door Bar's Miss Fountain City. How did you feel when you won? To have won was a feeling of ‘at long last' – an achievement fairly won and the reward that I can use the title to do some good in the community at large for the next year. Having created the persona of Miss Gloriousole, it has never been about throwing my arms around for attention, but rather, the wider view of what such a performer can do for the gay community, and the wider community at large. What characterises the New Zealand LGBT community for you? I admire that anybody in the LGBT community can live out loud and in colour. What is the worst thing for you about doing drag? Finding shoes. What is the best thing? Being able to suspend reality in order to create great entertainment and of course… the flattery! Relationship status? Single, and looking for a companion whose intellect is deeper than the average puddle yet enjoys the hedonistic excesses of life whilst being able to balance themselves in their own terms. Favourite food and drink? Sushi, and Bourbon and coke Worst habit? Confusing the simplest issue. Most noble feature? Heart and soul. Favourite TV programme? Today's news. Qualities you most appreciate in a LGBT person? Honesty in all its forms. Sense of propriety and occasion. Having a view that extends past one's last hangover. Wit. What are you reading at the moment? 'Emperor' by Conn Iggulden (first instalment of Julius Caesar's biography). Who in the world would you most like to have a coffee and a chat with? I would like to have a coffee and a chat with Elizabeth Taylor, Fonda Boyz, Ruby Wax and Polyfilla. Although, I prefer to serve tea… and sneak a good coffee for myself. Role models? My own mother, Fonda Boyz, Katherine Hepburn, Danny La Rue. What is the most pressing issue currently facing the NZ LGBT population?That the play “The Boys in the Band”, while considered a dramatic exercise in the worst emotional behaviour gay men can exhibit, is as relevant today as it ever was. The lesson hasn't been learnt socially in 25 years. GayNZ.com - 15th June 2006