Levi Bloor As Hamilton Pride winds up with a grand party tonight it's a good time to get to know Mr Gay Waikato, who was crowned, or at least 'sashed' just as Pride kicked off.Levi Bloor, 20-year old hairdresser, won the annual competition held at Shine Nightclub in Hamilton and says he hopes to make a difference in the local gay community. Winning the title was something Bloor says he had not expected, despite putting considerable effort into his presentation for the contest. "Winning the competition was exhilarating, I couldn't believe that I had actually won Mr Gay Waikato", says Bloor. "I am just a gay boy from Hamilton so even though I worked hard to get votes I really didn't expect to be crowned with the title. It just goes to show that if you really put your mind to it you can do anything", he adds. Mr Gay Waikato Bloor believes that he won the competition because he tried his best at getting votes from people and working with crowd to get them to like him in a short period of time. "I think my experience with people skills contributed to winning as well as my bubbly personality and good looks", says Bloor. The new Mr Gay Waikato says he will put his newly-gained title to good use, and he is looking for ways to expand the amount of activity in the Hamilton gay community. Although he is not involved in the gay community at this stage he is looking forward to it. But he says that his life has yet to change since he has been crowned not so long ago. "I am still exactly the same person doing the exact same things the only difference is I am Mr Gay Waikato", he says. Although Bloor has not previously been a firm believer in the institution of marriage he says that he might marry one day since same-sex marriage became legal a month ago. "I've always been one of those people that don't believe in marriage, but since the bill has recently passed it has crossed my mind that yes one day I think I will get married when the time is right." He also believes that the legalisation of same sex marriage is only the very beginning of a difficult and long process. "I believe that the same sex marriage bill has had some contribution towards achieving equality within society, but there is still a lot of work to be done before [full] equality can be achieved", he says. Joe Lim - 21st September 2013