Our own Miss Gay City of Fountains educates, advocates for LGBTQ+ rights

On Aug. 17, Nikolette Kilz was crowned Miss Gay City of Fountains 2026 after competing against Nadine Darling from Columbia, Mo. Her talent performance of “Good Morning Baltimore” from the musical Hairspray wowed the judges with props and backup dancers from Haus of Galactica.

Now, the real work begins to carry the legacy of the crown, Kilz said.

“Most of the winners are from my home bar Sidekicks, where I won the crown, so my goal is to carry the torch they passed to me and be a beacon of light for queer people in the metro,” she added.

Kilz said it was “very validating and fulfilling” to win the city crown. Last year, she took home the runner-up title.

“Nikolette is more than just a drag queen,” Kilz said. “To me, she is an extension of my life. She’s kind of the way to express that feminine energy that I have.”

Contestants are scored on four categories: personal interview, on-stage question, evening gown and talent.

Chad Salmans, Miss Gay City of Fountains pageant promoter, said when he met Kilz last year, she was very focused and ready to take the crown.

“I’m glad she came back to compete,” he added. “She’s a great candidate, and she’s come up with all these different shows and even created a website for the City of Fountains pageant. She’s very active.”

Salmans said the best advice he could give Kilz is for her to listen to what peers are saying to change or tweak to get to the next level in the pageant because he doesn’t “notice all the details” like they do.

Tyson Huff-Garza, a judge from this past year and a promoter for Miss Gay Northwest America, said pageants are all about growth.

“Nikolette took the critiques she got in the past and built upon them, and that’s how she won this year,” he added.

Kilz’s work developing the Metro Junction Town Hall to educate and mobilize queer people to create change in the community also propelled her forward, Huff-Garza said.

“I think it’s tremendous,” he said. “We are not in a great place in our country, especially for us LGBTQ+ folk. I love that she’s fighting a good fight, because it’s hard right now, hard to make a state take a stand when you feel like everyone’s against you. And I think that helped her in her personal interview, for sure, because why would you not want Miss City of Fountains to be someone that’s representing our community and standing up for that?”

When Kilz competes in the Miss Gay Missouri America at the end of March next year, her work with the Metro Junction Town Hall will back her up, Huff-Garza added.

“If she talked about that in her interview, that would really, to me, stand out, because she’s an advocate,” he said. “She’s not talking about it, she’s doing it, and so that could set her apart at state.”

Kilz said pageant preparation can take up to six months — finding the right pageant gowns, wigs, makeup, costumes and a tailor if necessary. Rehearsals for lip sync numbers and dance routines can also be extensive because it’s as if you’re on America’s Got Talent, Kilz added.

In the past, Kilz has worked with theater departments at local schools, but to win the competition, she called on her drag family at Haus of Galactica for backup dancers and props to bring her talent number from the musical Hairspray to life.

Five years ago, Haus of Galactica was founded by Kilz and other performers who sought to support one another at performances and competitions. She said it was a “full circle moment” to have her friends help put everything together for this year’s pageant.

In 2020, Kilz traveled to Wichita for her first pageant competition. Unfortunately, her wig fell off halfway through her talent number, and she placed lower among other performers. But a few pageants later, she took home runner-up and is now the KC titleholder.

“Next year will be my tenth year as Nicolette Kilz,” she said. “I actually started drag on Halloween in 2016 at a house party when my parents were out of town. So, yeah, it’s crazy. [The crown] was one of the big goals, and it kind of cements having that crown going down in history. And to think, wow, I’ve been doing this career for 10 years now, and I actually have something to show for it.”

One of Kilz’s drag inspirations is Kyla Breeze, who has invited her to be on her brunch shows. Kilz said after she competed at state last year, a few people said she reminded them of Breeze.

“[They said] ‘You have the same kind of choreography, you have the same kind of makeup,’ like, ‘You just look like a newer generation of her,’” Kilz said. “So I’ve been able to perform at her shows and she’s kind of mentored me and just shown me that, even if you don’t get it on your first try, that’s okay, sometimes it’s a journey.”

Whether it’s your third time or your 30th, “if it’s for you and you have a passion for it, then go for it,” she added.

“I think a lot of queens like that have instilled in me patience and a work ethic,” Kilz said. “It’s not just a hobby, it’s a craft. So I think that’s definitely what separates the winners from the others is that there’s always something new to learn.”

Kilz has performed at Sidekicks Saloon for about a year, and credits winning her crown to hosting shows there and competing at Hamburger Mary’s Drag Survivor last year. Her show, Nikolette’s Roulette, features a mix of different performers every first Friday of the month.

Kilz said if you have the initiative and show you’re capable, any drag queen can host her own drag show, too.

When she’s not in shows for the night, she’s working the door, painting props or booking other queens for upcoming events.

“I think right now, especially with the economy and everything, some shows have been struggling and that sucks,” Kilz said. “But, I mean, that’s just kind of the name of the game. And if you have that personality and that drive and you’re willing to reach out, not just to invite your friends, but encourage your performers to say, hey, you know, this isn’t just my show. It’s your show too. So invite your friends out, invite anybody out that needs a space to feel like they belong, and needs a space to have fun.”

Kilz also credits her win to the work she’s done with the Metro Junction Town Hall, a grassroots initiative dedicated to building a stronger, more connected and mobilized queer community in Kansas City.

Backed by a team of 10 other activists and a few drag performers, Kilz hosted four town halls over the last year with over 1,000 community members in attendance.

“We were all inspired, of course, by the results of the election last year, and just noticing kind of a disconnect in the community,” she said. “A lot of websites talk about certain resources and different ways to get together, and so we kind of made it almost like a networking group where, if we know of, like, all the LGBT homeless shelters for youth or adults, then we have a list of them.”

The organization has compiled its own Rolodex or directory, Kilz said, to “bridge the gap” and point people to the right place.

The community town halls are the organization’s way to educate the queer community on everything from the gerrymandering in Missouri and around the US to different ballot initiatives and proposals to support.

Over 35 organizations have partnered with MJT to bring resources, education and fun to past town halls. Drag performers and musicians have also performed in between breakout sessions to give folks a reprieve.

Kilz said the best thing to come from starting MJT is rebuilding a sense of community.

“Being able to just hear people like, ‘Oh yeah, I know what Metro Junction Town Hall does,’ and being able to see more people show up for the No Kings protests … And when I was seeing a lot of talk online last year, [people] like myself weren’t really that educated about what’s going on,” she noted. “But when people talk about, ‘Hey, this is why we need to vote no on this,’ or, ‘Hey, this is why, when I call my senator, I’m going to tell them to vote yes on this,’ we’re able to give not just a good rebuttal, but educate them too, and educate each other.”

Kilz is proud that the LGBT community in Kansas City is a lot more informed and prepared for “anything that comes our way.”

Ezra Prince, a fellow drag performer and promoter for National Monster Extreme pageants, has helped Kilz run all the town halls after designing a flyer for the first one. He said his favorite part is making connections to those he wouldn’t have had the chance to meet otherwise.

“Coming from a background where I was very isolated and I didn’t really have a lot of people that I connected with growing up — I want to make sure that that’s there for others,” Prince said. “Especially with how polarizing the times are right now, and I think it’s just to make sure that we’re all here for each other, because at the end of the day, we’re really all each other has.”

Prince said he encourages everyone to attend the next town hall, support those trying to organize, and “not lose faith or motivation.”

The MJT not only educates area residents on what’s to come, but has also led history lessons from the past. Tom Alonso, leader of Equality Kansas, spoke at the last meeting about how he was outed as gay in the military and demoted to one of the worst jobs, fueling and cleaning out jet latrines in the Arizona desert.

Former head of the LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Kansas, Sandra Stenzel also spoke about how she knocked on Kansans’ doors until she had enough signatures to legalize gay marriage. She became the first woman to marry another woman in the state—Kansas State House Rep Susan Ruiz.

“They’ve gone through similar situations that were at a great level of uncertainty,” Kilz said. “They’ve lived through it, and they were able to teach us that, sadly, these things might happen again. But all it takes is someone to stand up and demand positive change and to push back — it’s possible.”

The next town hall will be announced in early spring and will likely be held virtually for more accessibility, Kilz said.

Next up for the queen is hosting a “Bubble Gum Bish” themed night with special guest Tourette Lynn at Sidekicks Saloon on Jan. 2.