Aurora Sexton
Aurora Sexton

To say 2016 was rough is an understatement. Pulse, Aleppo, Trump, the barrage of celebrity deaths and the loss of our very own Natasha Richards has made this an emotionally trying year for us all.

From Clearwater, FL, Natasha was the 11th lucky lady to
be crowned Miss Gay USofA in 1996 and at 24 yrs old one of the youngest. She was thrown into her first bar pageant by her biological mother in 1991 at the Miss Suncoast Pageant placing dead last but winning talent and anyone that had ever met her could tell you why. Natasha was insanely talented, devilishly funny with a quick wit and wild personality. Of the people I spoke with to write about Natasha there wasn’t much info I could publicly put in print!

Although I didn’t have the good fortune of knowing her very well it was more then apparent from those that knew her best that she was hysterically funny, fiercely loyal and lived her life on her own terms. We should all be so lucky to live the life we dream of.
Many people have asked about doing something for Natasha or a remembrance fund. We will of course have an in memorium for her at this year’s Miss Gay USofA
contest and other things are in the works. I will keep everyone updated on future plans regarding.

Yes, 2016 sent us some hard blows. But a lot of good things have happened too. I watched my baby sister walk down the isle and get married. She watched me perform for the first time ever as I was crowned Miss Gay USofA in Dallas.
I’ve toured this country for 6 months watching peoples dreams come true. It’s the life changing moments like these we have to hold onto and cherish in the darkest times of our life. It’s those that are still with us that we have to take the time to appreciate while we still can.

Tickets go on sale starting Jan 1st for Final Night of Miss Gay USofA which you can purchase on www.usofa.org. I will release
the theme for this years contest next month on my web series, US of Aurora. New episodes are out next week so subscribe today!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjVJprtUnQpq6E4zoqdZ5YA

A lot of great Preliminaries are coming up this month to qualify for your chance to become the next Miss Gay USofA!
Miss Gay Lonestar USofA January 8th
Miss Gay Colorado USofA Jan 21st
Miss Gay California USofA & Miss Gay California USofA Classic Pageants Jan 27th
Miss Gay Arkansas Jan 28th

Please contact myself or the promoters of any of these fantastic preliminaries for more information.

Congrats to this months ladies who qualified for Miss Gay USofA-
Nina DiAngelo and Josephine O’hara Andrews for Fire & Ice USofA.
Vidalia Ann Gentry and Venus Shannon for Tennessee USofA
Thank you again to the promoters David Armijo, Bruce Ragsdale Horton and Jessica Patterson for fantastic events!

In closing, every very year we make our personal resolutions to better ourselves. This year I’m about making results that last past spring.

Every month this year I’m going to focus on and finish one life changing thing that I’ve never accomplished but always wanted to.
This month I’m starting with something simple- my name. Although I transitioned a long time ago, circumstances in my personal life didn’t allow me to accomplish a lot of things early on. I never understood or took the time to educate myself on the complex web of laws regarding my transition when it came to social security, a 1st time passport, birth certificate, gov id’s and programs, stocks,
ira’s, tax brackets, healthcare and more. I can’t think of a better time then the present. Adulting can be fun if you look at it as an exciting new adventure 🙂

As we look forward to 2017 lets do it together with renewed strength and resilience.

Best wishes to you all for love, health and happiness in the New Year!

With Love, Aurora

Miss Gay USofA 2016

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