The BG PRIDE Pageant System

As the first-ever Title Holder of the BG Pride Pageant System, Queen Venus served as an example for future Title Holders to follow.  With her considerable pageant experience and past success, she helped establish policies, procedures, protocols, expectations, duties and behaviors of the Title Holders.  She helped create the Title Holder Contract and ensured the pageant process is contestant-friendly.

Echoing the pageant theme, Queen Venus ran on a platform of Community Unity.  She committed to serving as a representative of our community, to opening her reign to include all the members of the Inaugural Pride Court, and to make this honor be an active position that can truly make a positive impact on our community.  Below are the ways she fulfilled her promise and achieved her goals.

Queen Venus committed to serving as a representative of our community.  During her reign, she was interviewed by media and news outlets about LGBTQIA+ issues and events.  She attended meetings for the BG Pride Festival.  She met with and reached out to various government and civic leaders to bring awareness to our community's beliefs and values.  Now as a former Miss BG Pride, Queen Venus Knight continues to support and advise the BG PRIDE Pageant System and to represent the system, the LGBTQIA+ community and our greater community at large.

In an unprecedented move, Queen Venus opened her reign as the Inaugural Miss BG Pride to include all the members of her Pride Court and their platforms.  She encouraged each Pride Court member to spearhead an initiative that focused on their platform.

By including and promoting the full Pride Court, Queen Venus inspired others to follow their hearts, provided opportunities for leadership and development, and encouraged others to follow through with creating unique services to our community.  This demonstration of selflessness, generosity and willingness to share the spotlight allowed the Pride Court to expand its outreach to the community.  

As a result, Bowling Green saw it's first-ever Community Business Meeting for Drag Performers & Producers and the first-ever Pride Prom for local youth.  Confidentially, those struggling with the effects of conversion therapy were given support and referrals to services focused on their unique needs.  

Scroll down to see the full accomplishments of the 2021 Miss BG Pride Court and their impact on our community.

Throughout her reign, Queen Venus continued to highlight and promote the works and initiatives of other LGBTQIA+ groups and services.  She shared and promoted their events on social media, participated in community events and drives, and continued to promote others.  

Her support for and participation in SOKY Magic helped expand their outreach to our community.  She encouraged and mentored rising regional performers and facilitated their getting bookings or pageant entries.  She supported and promoted other local performers and groups.  

Leading by example, Queen Venus constantly put the spotlight of the Crown on those around her.

During her reign, Venus continually worked to promote unity in the community in the face of adversity, jealousy, and judgement.

She steadfastly stood by those who were excluded and cast aside, choosing instead to welcome-in the outcast.  She served as mediator for those who needed help resolving conflicts.  She directly confronted bullying in our community and demanded accountability.

She addressed the community at large publicly and in groups, calling for unity and for us to support one another. 

During her reign as the Inaugural Miss BG Pride 2021, Queen Venus Knight, made considerable financial contributions, donations and sponsorships to various community groups, initiatives and organizations.

She sponsored the SOKY Magic Basketball team to help them attend their first national tournament.  She sponsored holiday dinners for local families.  She sponsored BG FuZion and its host non-profit organization Xclaim, Inc.  She sponsored all her Pride Court's community events and covered the costs for all of them.

Queen Venus was motivated to support the BG Pride Pageant System financially and was dedicated to contributing to the Miss BG Pride Pageant.  She covered the cost of the crown, sponsored the cost of pageant entertainment,  and reimbursed each contestant for their entry fees!

These donations and sponsorships are noteworthy alone, but Queen Venus Knight's greatest financial contributions came not from personal donations, but from her community fundraising efforts detailed below.

The true mark of the reign of Queen Venus Knight is the acceptance and support shown to her from the community.  A true leader must get the community to follow them, and Queen Venus achieved this status.  No initiative demonstrates that more than her incredibly successful community relief efforts mid-reign.

When Bowling Green was hit by a devastating tornado in December 2021, Venus joined many others providing direct relief and support for storm victims. She then spearheaded a massive relief effort, even interviewing in Queer Kentucky Magazine to spread the word.

Her collaboration with Kerry Pogue at TKO resulted in over $5,000 cash raised for relief!  Venus gave most of that money to the Jennings Creek Elem. School Family Resource Center and empowered their staff to provide direct relief to the hardest hit families in our community.

With personal contributions and donations from more than 200 other people, Venus collected almost $10,000 worth of cash and brand-new goods & services!  More impressively, she personally delivered those items to more than 100 families in our community!

Venus also sponsored tornado relief victims to participate in summer youth performance camps.

Queen Venus Knight's achievements and contributions to the Bowling Green community during her reign are noteworthy on their own, but more so because her work came from the heart and an honest desire to help community. 

The community saw her heart, followed her leadership and were ready to welcome and embrace the next Title Holders at her step-down - this is her legacy: establishing the significance of the BG Pride Pageant System as a community service program that truly represents our region.

Everything she has accomplished this year is a reflection of her heart and person and values, but also it reflects the Crown, the Title and the very mission of the BG Pride Pageant System.

The community is grateful to Queen Venus Knight for standing up for what is right, leading us with integrity, demonstrating unwavering dedication, and for representing us with dignity and Pride!