Best in Drag Show Raises Funds for AID For AIDS

The Best in Drag Show, the outrageous and long-running annual fundraiser , will be held on October 5 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, raising funds for Aid for AIDS.

"It is a fantastic show with a real purpose," said Terry Goddard II, executive director of Alliance for Housing and Healing. "Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, ticket buyers and donors, we are able to provide housing and food -- the basic necessities -- to those who are struggling with HIV/AIDS and poverty in Los Angeles. Aid for AIDS is a vital program of Alliance for Housing and Healing."

Academy Award nominee Melanie Griffith, Emmy Award winner Holland Taylor, Emmy Award nominee Dot Jones, and Kathy Kinney will be part of the celebrity judging panel for the show's 12th anniversary. Event co-founder Patrick Rush will return to host the show and Jeffrey Drew, long-time lead star throughout the history of the show, will once again direct, choreograph and helm the 2014 production.

The 2014 contestants are Seth Hancock (Miss Alaska: Tastee Freez), Sean Kim (Miss Hawaii: Suh Nami), Todd Wing (Miss Maine: Dotty Rae Johnson), David A. Flores (Miss New Mexico: D'vida Loca), Nicholas Mancini (Miss New York: Po Mi Saki), and Marcus Barela (Miss Washington: Willamina Wonka).

The Best in Drag Show� was originally founded by Alexis Pittman with a small group of friends in his West Hollywood living room in 1989. Then called Battle for the Tiara, the event raised $400, collected from twenty people. Due to its increasing popularity, the show was moved to subsequently larger venues and has grown into a large and highly-anticipated annual beauty pageant spoof that makes fun of itself, while keeping the focus on giving back to the community.

The current version has run since 2003, and has raised more than $3 million for Aid for AIDS, in support of the work of the non-profit throughout Los Angeles County to prevent homelessness and hunger for men, women, and families living with HIV/AIDS.

Aid for AIDS, a program of Alliance for Housing and Healing, was founded in 1983 by a group of friends in the Hollywood gay community to provide at-home care for patients facing the end stages of the disease. Since then, AFA has become Los Angeles County's premier, non-profit provider of direct financial assistance to those impoverished and disabled by HIV/AIDS.

To provide a robust continuum of care and meet the changing needs of the community, AFA merged with the Serra Project in 2009 to form the Alliance for Housing and Healing which works to prevent homelessness among persons living with HIV/AIDS. Our mission is to provide essential housing and supportive services to people living in poverty with HIV/AIDS and other challenging health conditions. Almost 94 percent of all revenue goes directly to client services. More than 18,000 individuals have received assistance.