‘Ms.’ category joins ‘Mr.’ in Hidden Door contest
TAMMYE NASH | Managing Editor
nash@dallasvoice.com
The reigning Mr. Hidden Door, Euphonious, will be handing over his title to the 2023 winner to highlight the annual contest happening Oct. 20-21. But this year, producer Dan Perry notes, there’s more to look forward to: This year there will also be a Ms. Hidden Door contest, happening Nov. 3-4.
“We’ve had a lot of women asking about a Ms. Hidden Door competition,” Perry said this week in announcing the new contest. “We’ve had a whole lot of leatherfolks — men and women — who have ended up at The Hidden Door since Dallas Eagle closed. But just because of the changes in the neighborhood, we’ve had a lot more women in general coming to The Door regularly over the last several years, and a lot of women have been asking about a Ms. Contest,” Perry explained. “So we looked at the idea, and we talked about it. And we just decided to do it.”
Perry stressed that the Mr./Ms. Hidden Door contests are not leather competitions, per se, but that most of the competitions to which the winners would be eligible to advance are leather-identified. But, he added, although the winners will be eligible to compete to those contests, they are not required to.
To be eligible to enter, contestants must be a Texas resident of legal age, and they must identify as male for the Mr. category and female for the Ms. category. Winners will be required to commit time to representing the bar and “doing good stuff in the community,” Perry said. “They will need to ready and able to show up at Hidden Door functions, like the bar’s anniversary party and the Firedancers’ annual Ruby Slipper event.
Perry said details of the new Ms. competition are still being finalized, and that a meet-and-greet for interested women is being planned and will be announced soon. He said that the contest organizers are looking for people who want to be serious about competing and helping the community but who also want to have a good time.
“I want people to know this is about doing good stuff for the community, but it’s also about having a good time, too,” he said. “You have to be serious about competing for the title, but at the same time, if you are not having fun, it’s not worth doing it.”
