Kathy Griffin to Host 2012 BEST IN DRAG SHOW, 10/7

Best In Drag Show® – the outrageous and long-running annual fundraiser for Aid for AIDS – has announced that Emmy Award winning comedienne Kathy Griffin will headline this year's event for her 10th consecutive year. Following her opening monologue, Griffin will join the celebrity judges panel alongside Academy Award nominee Melanie Griffith, Tony Award winner Sara Ramirez and Olympic Gold medalist winner Greg Louganis.

Best In Drag Show® will be held on October 7, 2012 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.

Griffin, Griffith, Ramirez and Louganis will join the previously announced judges Lisa Rinna (Days of Our Lives), Harry Hamlin (Army Wives), Melora Hardin (The Office), Kathy Kinney (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) and Judge Alex Ferrer (Judge Alex).

After a two-year hiatus, event co-founder Patrick Rush will return to host the show. Jeffrey Drew, long-time lead star throughout the history of Best In Drag Show®, will once again direct, choreograph and helm the 2012 production.

The 2012 contestants include Carlos Martinez (Miss California: Fruta Fresca), Lawrence Lucero (Miss Hawaii: Tiny Bubbles), Matthew James Carlin (Miss Louisiana: Miss Clawdette), Keith Lamont (Miss Massachusetts: Anna Robix), Christian Satrustegui (Miss Washington: Tipsy Rose Lee) and Victor Montoya (Miss Indiana: LaFonda Jackson).

Best In Drag Show® was originally founded by Alexis Pittman with a small group of friends in his West Hollywood living room in 1989. Then callEd Battle for the Tiara, the event raised $300, collected from twenty people. Due to its increasing popularity, the show was moved to subsequently larger venues and has grown into a large and highly-anticipated annual beauty pageant spoof that makes fun of itself, while keeping the focus on giving back to the community. The current version has run since 2003, and has raised over $2.2million dollars for Aid for AIDS, in support of the work of the non-profit throughout Los Angeles County to prevent homelessness and hunger for men, women, children and families with HIV/AIDS.

To purchase tickets, visit: www.bestindragshow.org or call 323-344-4880

Aid for AIDS was founded in 1983 by a group of friends in the Hollywood gay community to promote at-home care for patients facing the end stages of the disease. Since then, AFA has become Los Angeles County's premier, non-profit provider of direct financial assistance to those impoverished and disabled by HIV/AIDS.

To provide a robust continuum of care and meet the changing needs of the community, AFA merged with the Serra Project in 2009 to form the Alliance for Housing and Healing which works to prevent homelessness among persons living with HIV/AIDS. Our mission is to provide the basic necessities of life to men, women, children, and families living with HIV/AIDS through a safety net of essential housing and direct supportive services because housing is healthcare. 92% of all revenue goes directly to client services. More than 18,000 individuals have received assistance.

For more information visit www.alliancehh.org.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.

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