Gennifer WithaG gives up her Miss LifeWalk crown this week
DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
Taffet@DallasVoice.com
Gennifer WithaG is sad that she’ll be giving up her Miss LifeWalk crown on Sunday, mostly because she’ll miss all the people she’s met over the last year. She also gives a special nod to the incredible staff at Prism Health North Texas and the many ways they’re saving lives throughout the community.
But, she explained, there are other pageants, and she’s headed to nationals in one of those other pageant systems. And, Gennifer said, she is still amazed that, starting in a small town in Michigan before moving to school in Indiana, she made it all the way to the stage of the legendary Rose Room.
…………………..
Attending Miss LifeWalk
The higher the tip total, the better access to care our neighbors receive through the Miss LifeWalk pageant benefitting Prism Health North Texas, the community health center celebrating 40 years this year.
Join local queens for an afternoon of fabulous performances on Sunday, Oct. 4, in the Rose Room at S4, 3911 Cedar Springs Road, from 4-6 p.m.]
The annual pageant raises funds for healthcare services provided by PHNTX to the community’s most vulnerable populations, including HIV and STI testing and treatment, primary care and behavioral health.
Tickets, available at LifeWalk.org, are $10 for standing general admission; $35 for seated general admission; $75 for VIP admission that includes two drink tickets and early entry.
The VIP reception starts at 3 p.m., with doors opening for general admission at 3:30 p.m. Competition begins at 4 p.m.
The pageant starts with the presentation and introduction of contestants, followed by talent competition and ending with the self-expression & question/answer portion of the pageant, with guest performances between categories.
Miss LifeWalk 2026 will be crowned by 6 p.m.
…………………
“I got started like a good queer boy,” Gennifer said. “I went to school for theater and branched into drag.”
She moved to Dallas eight years ago and began volunteering at Resource Center as a way to become involved in the community. That led her to Gaybingo for which she’s been a host for three or four years. And, although she’s not a sister, she does some work with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
“I love doing community service,” Gennifer explained.
She was in the cast at Hamburger Mary’s where she produced The Gennifer Show: The Dumbest Game Show in Dallas. After that venue closed, she moved the popular event to Sue Ellen’s where she recently raised about $1,200 with Drag Family Feud.
Which brings us back to Miss LifeWalk, which raises money that goes to LGBTQ+ primary care, HIV and STI prevention and treatment and behavioral health services.
LifeWalk began in 1991 as a fundraiser for Oak Lawn Community Services. The 5K walk usually made a loop from Turtle Creek Park up towards what is now known as Uptown and back to the park for food, a festival and HIV testing. Several years later, the route moved downtown, and, one year, it even passed through the downtown Neiman Marcus store.
To encourage LifeWalk participants to raise more than just the basic entry fee, teams formed.
And raising money for LifeWalk became a competitive sport.
OLCS closed in 2000, and LifeWalk was picked up by AIDS Arms, the agency now known as Prism Health North Texas. After that, the walk raised about a half million dollars each year — a frustrating sum considering the number of people and amount of work it took to stage the event, and because Houston’s AIDS walk raised well over a million dollars.
So to increase the revenue, Prism initiated the Miss LifeWalk pageant in 2004. By 2016, the pageant had raised almost $190,000. But the last LifeWalk was held in 2019, just before the country went into lockdown for the pandemic.
Once things opened up again, it became clear that LifeWalk as it had previously existed had become a casualty of the pandemic. But while the walk had ended, the Miss LifeWalk pageant returned, keeping alive the tradition of thousands of people getting together on one Sunday in October each year and walking together to bring awareness to the HIV epidemic.
Not a regular drag pageant
“This isn’t a regular drag pageant,” Gennifer said, encouraging everyone to attend and enjoy the show. “You don’t have to be the most glamorous person. We’re not Drag Race queens. Miss LifeWalk celebrates charity queens.”
This year’s contestants include a former Miss DIVA and a Miss Big Thickette, a Rising Star winner and a newer performer without a title — yet. They are DeManda Refund, i.v.marcsskyy Ophelia Oliver and Toxique Rose Andrews.
“Miss LifeWalk is looking for the next representative of the community, someone to live and breathe” the title, Gennifer said. She explained that contestants have already been raising money, and the tips and donations they bring in during the pageant go into their score in the competition. But, she added, money raised only accounts for part of a contestant’s score.
“Even if you’ve raised the most money, that doesn’t guarantee you’ll win,” Gennifer said.
“You have to think about your message.”
Plus, there is also the talent portion of the competition, which is very important, too. Gennifer said she sang “I Am What I Am” from La Cage Aux Folles for her talent.
Gennifer said it has been a privilege to spend this last year as Miss LifeWalk. “Over the course of the year, I’ve met so many people with Prism Health,” she said. “I met with staff. It’s neat to connect with people.”
Once her reign is over, Gennifer will be back in the Rose Room on Nov. 10-11 competing in America’s Bearded Queens after having won a local pageant in Fort Worth to qualify for the national competition next month.
She said drag and pageants are her very expensive hobby — a hobby she supports with her day job in the training department with Southwest Airlines. She is quick to stress, however, that “If anyone is angry about baggage fees, that decision was made above my pay grade.”
“Now that I’m stepping down [as Miss LifeWalk] I’d like a break,” Gennifer said. But then she quickly added that she’s already told Prism if they ever need her, she’s happy to jump right in and help.
So the folks at Prism Health took her up on that offer, and she’ll be participating in the Biscuits and Gravy Cook-off on Nov. 14 at the Hidden Door. She also still hosts the game show at Sue Ellen’s from 8-10 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month, and she hosts Gaybingo the third Saturday of each month at S4.
And if someone else asks her for help? She’ll be there to help if she can, Gennifer promised.