Groovy guy contest
The Groovy Guy contest was started by The Advocate magazine in 1968 as a marketing tool for the then newly formed magazine and as a way to unite the Los Angeles gay community. The first contest had seven contestants and 150 people in the audience. Word of mouth created such a buzz that by the following year there were 18 contestants and 700 people in the audience. By 1970 the contest had become so famous that The Advocate featured a Groovy Guy float in the first gay pride parade down Hollywood Boulevard in June 1970. The last contest was held in 1972. It suffered a setback when one of the winners was convicted of murder soon after winning. It also lost a lot of luster when naked dancers became common in gay bars in the early seventies. It was the forerunner of gay beauty pagents to this day.
