This past Saturday, Paris Mae Mackie, originally from Pago Pago, American Samoa, was crowned the 2023 Miss Island Goddess. The illustrious pageant returned after a 3-year hiatus of the pageant’s history due to COVID-19 at the Federal Way Performing Arts and Events Center. Six other candidates competed for the title. The 11th pageant also celebrated outgoing Miss Island Goddess, Beyonce Black St. James, who hails from Spokane, Washington, had been crowned in 2019 and had kept the title through the pandemic. The organizational host, the United Territories Of the Pacific Islanders Alliance (UTOPIA) of Washington describes this as a gathering under one roof to celebrate its beautiful and diverse community to witness drag pageantry through a cultural lens. Miss Island Goddess gives a platform for not just the Faʻafafine community, but all the queer, trans and gender diverse communities of color.
Formerly named, Miss UTOPIA International Pageant, UTOPIA Executive Director, Taffy Maene Johnson shared that the change was ”not only to be able to trademark our pageant name, but to provide a visible platform for our Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders and 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals to be visible, display their beauty, knowledge, and talents.” She added, “pageantry has a deep history in [the] Pacific Islander community and platforms are growing to provide space and elevation of our Queer and Transgender Pacific Islander community.” As founder, Johnson sees the pageant as an “edition to history and culture that our community can be proud to participate in and assist in the amplification of our community and organization’s mission and vision.”
Hosted by Seattle-based drag entertainer and activist Aleksa Manila and international drag superstar, Brita Filter of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Season 12 and national chair of the Drag Out The Vote organization, the sold-out event was entertained by their comedic and socially-relevant banter while introducing candidates, former winners and special guests from the Asia and Pacific Islands. Filter, who is Tongan-American said the pageant “is so unique and necessary for the Pasifika community.” Adding, “growing up LDS, pushed my Tongan identity away because my father and I didn’t see eye to eye. This weekend, I experienced both worlds colliding for the first time, and it was as if I had arrived home. It was an incredible sense of belonging… I have never been so proud to be an LGBTQ Tongan.”
In addition to the eventual winner, Paris Mae Mackie, who also took home Best in National Wear and Best Question & Answer, other contestants included Diamond St. James (First runner-up), Stacey Jacobs (Second runner-up), Tallahassee Mauga (Best in Swimwear), Vina Leuta (Best in Talent and Miss Photogenic), Anesthetic Ammy and Christina Doll.
The esteemed panel of judges, responsible for scoring each category included Tiare Mallie Chanel, Elders Service Manager and Wellness Navigator at Pacific Islander Community Association; Colleen Echohawk, CEO of Native Lifestyle brand Eighth Generation and member of the Seattle Police Commission; Afa Ah Loo, Owner and Designer of AF AH LOO, and Co-founder of Utah Pacific Fashion; Austin Asiata, Benefits & Eligibility Division Head for the American Samoa Medicaid State Agency and Zone Leader for the Ladies Embracing Gender Equity N Diversity (LEGEND); and Priya Frank, Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for Seattle Art Museum. Frank, who is the first in her family born in the US and is of Indian descent with Fijian and Kenyan roots felt that “the cheers and authentic support from friends and family for each contestant was such a joy to witness!” She added that the hardest part of being a judge was to try to hold it together and not jump up and cheer just as loudly.
The contestants’ national wear showcased extravagant and larger-than-life symbols of their respective cultures paired with narration and music. Each of the contestants’ talent presentations highlighted their unique skills in dance, lip sync, and overall stage presence. In addition to the feast-for-the-eyes, jaw-dropping red-carpet gowns for evening wear with added surprise reveals and choreography, each contestant revealed their intelligence and current events knowledge during the question and answer segment. Questions ranged from environmental issues, anti-trans laws, HIV and LGBTQ+ concerns.
In addition to the cash prizes, $3,000 for Miss Island Goddess, $1,500 and $1,000 for the first runner-up and second runner-up, respectively, each winner for the individual categories, including Miss Photogenic, received an additional $100 each, plus gifts from Thrive Causemetics and Sheraton Hotel.
The following day, all winners were given their prize packages during a luau event at the Eagles in Kent, Washington. Miss Island Goddess 2023, Mackie thanked the crowd and her “family and the team behind me… every single person who said a prayer, a word of encouragement; I will always be here for you. I look forward to doing everything I can to elevate the voices of our community.”
Since 2009, UTOPIA has worked with QTPI leaders to create a safe, welcoming, supportive, and vibrant space for members of our community to address basic needs, build pathways toward new expanded career and life opportunities, foster a sense of common purpose, and advocate for social justice, education, and overall wellness among members of the Pacific Islander LGBTQI community. UTOPIA is led and founded by women of color, identifying as transgender and/or fa’afafine. Fa’afafine is a cultural gender identity native to Samoa translated as “in the manner of a woman.”
In the midst of the current political climate against the LGBTQ+ community, Filter strongly felt that “getting into drag is political, and when it is produced on such a high level of grandeur, like the Miss Island Goddess Pageant, it is a protest in itself. It’s our community saying we aren’t going anywhere, and we refuse to go back in the closet; we will continue to spread our message of love, inclusivity, and hope for everyone.”
The event’s organizer and UTOPIA Development Manager, Brandon Fuamatu was especially proud of the outcome sharing that “we saw this fabulous community come together in full force, not only to compete, but to support one another and continue to build and gather our QTPI family together. This was an absolutely successful pageant and crowning of a new Miss Island Goddess 2023!”
UTOPIA offers services and programs with Sex Worker Empowerment Initiative,, Community & Cultural Organizing, Peer Support, Basic Needs, Health & Harm Reduction, Legal & Immigration, including the Mapu Maia Clinic that also offers gender affirming care and vaccine access, among other health-related care. For more information about UTOPIA, please visit them online at www.utopiawa.org or via 253-478-3941 and [email protected].
Aleksa Manila aka Aleks Martin is a social worker consultant in private practice at A|M Clinical Services and Program Manager at Public Health – Seattle & King County, NHBS-Trans (Project FIRST), a trans-led HIV community-based study. For more info, visit www.kingcounty.org/nhbs
For more news, click here
