MGOA contestants, welcome to the 2019 season of Miss Gay Ohio America! I have chosen the blog title of Valerie's Secret to share my inspirational journey in the system of Miss Gay America.
Forty-one years ago, the closed state preliminary began known as Miss Gay Ohio America. This year, we crown the 42nd MGOA, and I couldn't be more excited to share this journey with you all. In recent posts to the official Miss Gay Ohio America Facebook page, I shared my life experiences and challenges that I faced as a young man and female impersonator. With this blog, I’ll continue to share my experiences and help educate the younger generation that will soon become the new face of Miss Gay Ohio America.
Within my job responsibility as Miss Ohio, I get to travel the state building relationships with new and seasoned entertainers. I’ve been lucky to make some wonderful friends as I’ve traveled the state, and I’ve listened to their dreams. I took a mental note of what they told me, and have reached out to several competitors to see where they are in their career. You can’t force or push someone to take part in anything they don’t feel is meant for them.
With this season, I’ve been told to make the year my own, which I plan to do by showing that everyone has a past and a present. Someone’s past doesn't define or set their future. In my three years of competing, I wasn't always confident in myself. I changed that by building relationships with my forever Miss Ohio sisters and learning about their journey to become excellent. I also started paying attention to my feelings. I slowly began to adapt a new way of life and learning that my feelings were valid. Believing in me had always been a struggle but through my journey, I found ways of loving myself and acknowledging my own personal growth. I’m now more confident than ever because I’ve chosen to be vulnerable. I now share the secrets that I used to keep hidden from the world.
Believing in yourself is the key to anything you wish to achieve. Humble yourself and be willing to make changes. I wouldn’t be the person or illusionist I am without falling down and making mistakes. No matter how different you may be or where you live, who your friends are, you have to love yourself. A wise person once told me to look at myself in the mirror and tell myself that I’m confident and capable of achieving anything. While looking at my reflection, I saw every part of my life circled around me. I saw the hurt, success, love, good and bad times. In the center of all that… was me. And for once in my life, I started to see that I’m a survivor.
As we continue through the prelim season, I’m going to challenge everyone. Look yourself in the mirror. What does your reflection show? Tell yourself that you can do anything and that you love yourself. Through sharing my story, I hope to help someone else accept theirs. How am I going to make my year my own? I already have.
Continue to blossom my friends. To the new Miss Gay Ohio America, your dreams can come true and you’ll always have me in your corner.
Love Always,
Valerie Valentino
Miss Gay Ohio America 2018
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