South Africa has a new champion for the Mr Gay World competition 2021 after both the original winner and the runner up both stood aside.

Once upon a time the Mr Gay World competition got people from all over the world interested in promoting great role models for the queer community, but in recent years the competition appears to have descended into a farcical shadow of it’s former self.

The 2020 competition was postponed so last year they held two rounds of the competition, awarding Mr Gay World 2020, and then shortly afterwards Mr Gay World 2021. So Mr Gay World 2020 had a really short reign.

Louw Breytenbach, representing South Africa, was named the winner of the 2021 competition in October, but things didn’t work out between him and the promoters of the competition, so he quit.

Joel Rey Carcasona from The Philippines was named the replacement Mr Gay World 2021, and Bongs Ndima, the runner up of the South African arm of the event, took over as Mr Gay World – South Africa. He became the first gay black man to hold the South African title.

Last month though, he also quit, accusing the organisers of the event of deliberately putting black contestants in the second and third places, and of not be supportive when Reyenbach’s resignation elevated him being runner-up to title holder. The organisers have denied the accusation.

So now South Africa is getting its third person to hold the title in less than seven months, and the torch passes to second runner up, twenty-seven-year-old Shanon Kannigan.

Kannigan will be formally inducted into the role at the Pink Loerie Mardi Gras and Arts Festival held in the picturesque town of Knysna next weekend. We wish him well in his reign which will cover the remaining five months of the year.

We’re beginning to think this competition might be past it’s prime, but also we’re inspired and have begun penning a script for a queer take on Miss Congeniality.

OIP Staff

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