ALICIA WAGNER CALZADA | 210SA Contributor Anna De Luna is Miss Southtown 2008 — and had to pull a Felicity Huffman in ‘Transamerica' — except zanier.

A woman playing a man playing a woman — that was 38-year-old Anna De Luna's angle in the Miss Southtown competition recently, and it paid off.

De Luna is the first woman to take the title in the 13-year history of the show. The part-time actress and drama teacher first participated in the drag show in 2007, though she wasn't a contestant. Her role as a man in the talent portion got her an invite for the 2008 competition.
“The show traditionally has males (as contestants), but in the past years, women have competed. I figured I would just have fun with it, and I played a vato character who was trying to be a woman. It was really funny and totally outrageous,” De Luna said.

 Thus, Blanquita Dubois Bouvier was born, complete with facial hair and a bright blonde wig. The inspiration, a Latino version of “A Street Car Named Desire” that Blanquita performed in the talent portion of the show.

“I wasn't afraid to go crazy and go for it. Being an actor helped me not hold back. ..... When I won, I was so happy. It was an honor,” De Luna said.

Now as Miss Southtown, De Luna must once again bring Blanquita to life as the grand marshal of the King William Fair parade. Not to be outshone by any other Fiesta queen, De Luna will wear her trademark pair of combat boots with her gown.

Even though it wasn't a typical beauty pageant, being the winner was an emotional high for De Luna.

“I used to think that pageants were sexist, but it was so much fun. I feel like a real groundbreaker.”

Jenina E. Hernandez | 210SA