At the 12th Annual Miss St Pete Pride Pageant on May 23 at Postcard Inn on the Beach, Ashlee T. Bangkx was crowned 2021's Miss St. Pete Pride. Ahead of the pageant, St. Pete Pride caught up with past winner, Kori Stevens.
For the better part of a decade, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay has worked in concert with St. Pete Pride on production and distribution of its event guide, and despite a pandemic that forced an all-out cancellation of Pride last year, CL and St. Pete Pride teamed up again in 2021 for a standalone guide on stands through the month of June. This piece by Angie Wegner is pulled from that guide.
Let’s start at the beginning. Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?
I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. I had two older brothers. There were a lot of kids around. I never had issues with other kids. I never tried to act any way other than who I was. Maybe it was because we grew up together? They were just “well, here’s who he is.”
How did you get into doing drag?
I think for a lot of us, the first experiences are around Halloween. It’s just something you want to do, so you use Halloween as an excuse. I was dating someone who talked me into doing drag for Halloween. I did it and won $1000 in a costume contest. That was the start.
How did you come up with your drag persona? Is it similar to yourself out of drag?
In most aspects, I’m the same person in and out of drag. I’m a little more outgoing in drag but I’m always very honest and upfront. I do everything with a professional mindset. For me, drag is a business, not a lifestyle. I don’t get in drag unless I’m being paid or helping to raise money for something. You won’t catch me walking around a bar in drag for no reason.
What was your first experience with St Pete Pride?
A new coworker told me to come to St. Pete the weekend of Pride so I could experience it. I didn’t know the area but he told me to meet him at a bar on Central Avenue at 9:00 a.m. the next morning. We met and he walked me up and down the street. I got to see the parade and was blown away because of all the celebrations I’ve been to, I’d never seen anything like it! My love for Pride started there. Once I got the responsibility of being Miss St Pete Pride, my love for it just grew to massive proportions.
What are the origins of the Miss St. Pete Pride Pageant and how did you get involved?
The first Miss St. Pete Pride Pageant was in 2009. The St. Pete Pride Board was hosting the World Pride meeting, and they decided to have a pageant so the winner could perform for their guests from World Pride. It took off from there. I was the second Miss St. Pete Pride. At first, I had no interest whatsoever, but I worked at the popular bar and I was one of the popular girls, so I got talked into it. I entered and won. It was kind of crazy, but it was really cool and it was the start of something absolutely amazing for me.
What advice would you give someone if they wanted to start performing as a drag artist?
Drag can be very enticing but you have to know who you are and you have to stay grounded. In any type of entertainment, fame can be taken away in a heartbeat so if you’re the type that needs the fame, you probably shouldn’t start. If you can put the job and caring for other people first, you’ll go much further. If you’re having fun, and you’re helping people, and you’re putting yourself out there to help the community, the community is going to help you back.
What do you suggest the LGBTQ community do to support drag artists?
Well, I mean, I’m probably the wrong person to ask that question. I’ve always tried to take care of myself, even when I am struggling. I don’t talk about it a lot. In 2015, my mom passed and it was rough. It was really bad because my mom was in Jacksonville and wasn’t doing well. There was a lot of driving back and forth. I would go to work at the bar, get off work at three in the morning, and drive to Jacksonville. I’d be with my mom for a couple of days and then come back a few days later to work. Once, I went to see her and she was doing really well. She sat up in bed and we talked. I had a vacation scheduled to Las Vegas and I told her that I wasn’t going to go.
She said, “Oh, you should go and have a good time.” I got to Vegas and I went out to see “Frank Marino’s Divas Las Vegas,” and I was sitting in the audience and my phone rang. I looked at my phone and I just knew what it was, so I didn’t answer the phone. It was really rough for me. I came home that Saturday and I had to perform at a brunch on Sunday morning. I went to work and the DJ introduced me and I walked out to do my number. Everybody in the audience showed me such love and support it was really one of the most touching moments I’ve ever had.
I knew before that this community had embraced me, but that moment was just crazy. It was like, “now I know where I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to be doing.”
You know, I do drag for a living, so I don’t have a whole lot of money. I didn’t grow up with a whole lot of money. My mom had a life insurance policy, but my dad passed three years before she did. She borrowed against her life insurance to pay for his arrangements and to help my brothers out, so there wasn’t a whole lot left to take care of her expenses. I ended up having to go out of pocket and I mentioned it to my best friend. Nobody said anything to me, but the day of her funeral, I got a message that said, “you’re going to kill us.” I’m like, “what are you talking about?” My friend sent me a screenshot of a fundraiser that they were doing on Facebook without me knowing about it. The community raised an amazingly generous amount of money to help me with my mother’s expenses. It was just ridiculous.
So, to answer your question, the community does take care of us. They really do. I’ve not met anybody who does drag in this area that feels unsupported, and that shows really just what this community is. It’s just amazing and I love it here.
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This article appears in Jun 3-9, 2021.