Tampa drag queen Jelitza Fearce is a pageant competitor true to her name

Jelitza Fearce grew up thinking drag was wrong. Raised with minister parents in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Fearce was a closeted teenager in 2004 when she went to an underage night at a local gay bar. She met a friend there who persuaded her to try on drag and everything changed.

“Baby, I thought I was real. I thought I was America’s Next Top Model,” she said. “I used drag as a gateway to come out of the closet, really. Drag gave me the strength to say that I’m gay.”

Jonathan’s new life as an out gay man began, and so did Jelitza’s career as a pageant queen. A week after trying on drag, she won her first competition. She moved to Florida in 2007 and soon after met her drag mother, “Drag Race” star Alexis Matteo. She has since won three national drag titles and is currently reigning as Miss Florida at Large.

“My passion has been pageants because I’m a natural competitor,” she said. “I compete for my goal and I put myself in another pageant. Why? Because when I got started there was no ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race.’”

Lots of plus size queens have competed and done well on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” but none has taken the crown. For now.

“A big bitch hasn’t won ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ because I haven’t made it yet!” she said.

Whether she makes the show or not, Fearce wants Tampa Bay drag fans to show up in person.

“Support your local drag queen because they were here before any mainstream drag went out, and we’re going to be here after,” she said. “We cannot expect other people to do good by us if we don’t do good by us. We have to start at home.”

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This article appears in Apr 17-23, 2025.