On one of his trips in Europe the Vice President of MGE Giulio Spatola met the President of the Norwegian Parliament, Mr Dag Terje Andersen (Labour).
There is one question that people ask us all the time: “Why do you say that Mr Gay Europe is more than a beauty contest – what do you mean with that phrase?”
Well, even though Mr Gay Europe is a contest for young and beautiful gay men, at the same time it’s really different from the other competitions that people like to compare us with.
We look for good looking guys with a working brain and a serious comittment to the LGBT causes; a good communicator, someone who can talk to anyone from high-ranking politicans to people in the street.
This doesn’t necceray mean being fully involved in gay activism or politics, but some knowledge about these topics is necessary to understand and appreciate the different communities and societies each delegate comes from.
A good Mr Gay Europe is equally split bwtween having fun and taking things seriously; he cares about social issues concerning the LGBT reality and, at the same time, he meets people and travel around Europe going to different happenings: Gay Pride, Press Conferences, local Mr Gay competitions and so on.
Sometimes you’ll see him make funny videos for Christmas or summer holidays, other times he will publish more serious messages on discrimination, political issues etc.
The title-holder has his own support team; both the President and the Vice President of MGE, Tore Aasheim and Giulio Spatola, is only a phonecall or an email away, to give advice, feedback and backup, in addition to support from his national producers, the MGE-team in Oslo and other previous MGE delegates that stay on to support MGE and the cause.
Ultimately, Mr Gay Europe is a contest for all those young gay men who aim to change things; sometimes with just a beautiful and friendly smile, some other time with words of advice, sharing and connecting and giving a voice to those who dear not speak themselves.
Each title-holder gives his year his special signature –that is also a part of the MGE policy – we don’t form the title-holder to something we want – he is free to form the title into something he wants.
Giulio Spatola
Vice President Mr Gay Europe