Lushus La’Rell: Miss Gay Colorado

Lushus La’Rell, winner of Miss Gay Colorado, is now coming into the nationals for Miss Gay United States. With her victory, Senator John Hickenlooper gives a shout-out and hopes for her win at the Gay United States Pageant.

La’Rell, also known as Anthony Aragon, has been within the LGBTQ+ community of Colorado for over 29 years and uses their platform as a drag queen for charity; rarely is he ever paid for his performances. Anthony has also worked closely with the Mayor’s office and the Governor’s office to help write public policy that has helped advance the LGBTQ+ Community throughout his life and career.

In our interview with Anthony, he expresses and emphasizes speaking out about many issues within our community, such as substance abuse and the importance of voting.

“Although it is not unique to the LGBT community, it’s still in our community,” Anthony states. “Let’s get rid of the stigma, and let’s stop talking about it in the shadows. Let’s talk about it front and center, there is no shame in needing help; there is no shame in wanting to talk about it.”

This year, Anthony also encourages our community to register to vote.

“We are at a crossroads in our country, where if the wrong person is in office for the next four years, our community is going to go backwards,” he says about the upcoming presidential elections. With the growing tensions of Trump becoming the Republican’s primary, voting is more important now than ever.

Anthony, as Lushus, is a former Miss Colorado Gay Rodeo Association and a former Miss Gay Pride of All Colorado. She is also Empress 40 of the Imperial Court of the Rocky Mountain Empire. Lushus is most noted for her ability to raise large amounts of money for various LGBTQ+ causes.

In his early years, he was an activist during the AIDS and HIV crisis. His future vision for the community is to stop the inner community fighting.

He used his experience with the Denver Gay Lesbian Flag Football League as an example of creating community. Many people with different labels come together through sports, finding connections in their team. He finds that we are better as one community, and not several.

Photo courtesy of Lushus La’Rell,