First Speech Contest in Two Years

It felt great to attend my first in person Toastmasters event in two years. It felt great to get out of the house on a cold February day. It felt great to talk to people again, who get me and my gender nonconformity ⚧ 🏳️‍⚧️ 🏳️‍🌈 . I hope to have more opportunities like that in the near future.

Our officials put together a great contest. Area 24 Director Yasmin Brown, Contest Chair Ryan Jacobs, and Chief Judge Nick Cecchetti were an amazing team. Yasmin reached out to me about helping out and with my many years of experience as a contest official, I couldn’t say no.

The evaluation contest was first up and Division C Director Joe Arnold served as our model speaker. Anna Lisa Haughwout and Jim Teague were the contestants evaluating the speech. Both gave great feedback and in the end, Jim came out victorious.

We then took a break between contests. It gave Anna Lisa and me a great opportunity to catch up since we hadn’t seen much of each other since I left McKeesport in early 2020 before the pandemic hit. She praised me for my blog and loved the inspiration I was pouring out. I talked to her about my gender nonconformity and how I recently came out in October. I even showed her my latest purchases and outfits, including my Lauren Conrad purses and my dresses.

The last time I attended an in person contest was March 7, 2020, a week before Covid-19 shut down the world. That day we had a great competition and I even gave my contest speech, even though I went over time and was disqualified. We ended the day with a stop at Oakmont Bakery and needed Toastmaster time.

Here’s how far I’ve come with my gender nonconformity. Two years ago I was apologizing for everything I owned in hopes I wouldn’t get shamed. Just last year alone things got better as I bought my Coach purse. Now I’m super comfortable being out in public even though my family fears I’ll get ridiculed for being different.

Our International Speech slate of contestants was excellent. All three of our contestants had amazing speeches to give. For our officials, this was a hard contest to judge. As great as the speakers were, only one came out on top.

Much thanks was given to those who helped make the contest a success. Especially those who attended. We got great district representation from Russell Drake and Stephanie Scott.

Our contest winners and the runner ups will attend the Division C contest on March 26 at the Cobblestone Hotel and Suites in Punxsutawney. In the past we’ve had the division events in Altoona and Johnstown. Holding it in Punxsutawney makes it more central to the division as a whole.

I am going to try and get that Saturday off so I can attend the contest as well as the conference on April 23, which will be held at the Doubletree Cranberry Township in Mars. Coincidentally, that’s where District 13 held its final Fall Conference in October of 2017.

Now that I’m established at Giant Eagle, it’s time to show off my true colors with my gender nonconformity as well as Toastmastets.