The Miss LifeWalk pageant, an annual fundraising event hosted by Prism Health North Texas, has become a vital platform for supporting LGBTQIA+ health services while celebrating queer culture and advocacy. The recent pageant raised more than $10,000, more than double the previous year’s proceeds.
Drag queens competing in the pageant use their platform to advocate for health equity within the community. Gennifer WithaG, crowned this year’s Miss LifeWalk, moved to Dallas from Indiana, which she described as “not a great place for queer health.” She found her first access to queer doctors and mental health resources at a Prism Health clinic. “I never had a doctor that just understood what being queer was like,” WithaG said. “I always had to explain my experience. It was always just really frustrating.” She told the crowd, “I actually found community in the waiting room of one of those clinics.”
Prism Health is a system of community health centers providing services like primary care, preventive care, and sexual health resources. For more than 20 years, the pageant has raised money and awareness for the organization’s critical services. The event also celebrates queer joy and gives one drag queen an advocacy role with Prism Health to support community care and sexual health resources. WithaG said of the role, “I want to be the welcoming committee for those that are new here and for those who have been here for a while.”
Drag’s Role in Health Advocacy
The connection between drag as an art form and advocacy runs deep. Tri McBath, director of marketing for Prism Health, noted that “drag and drag queens have always been at the forefront of change,” helping raise money for health services for decades, including during the HIV and AIDS crisis in the 1980s. “Now that we’re here at this time where healthcare is under threat again, I’m just excited that we were able to continue utilizing this art form,” McBath said.
Previous pageant winner Shantae Morgan, a Dallas drag queen for almost a decade, emphasized the heightened importance of the event amid growing political threats. “We are playing really dangerous chicken with people’s lives,” she said. Morgan described drag as an opportunity to “take something and use it as this amazing platform for advocacy,” while also bringing joy to people. She praised WithaG’s selection as the new Miss LifeWalk, saying, “We need it now more than ever to be able to continue to do the work that we’re doing and continue the fight.”
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.keranews.org/health-wellness/2026-02-04/miss-lifewalk-drag-pageant-supports-lgbtqia-queer-trans-health-prism-health-north-texas