Whether she’s slithering around in a shiny red latex body suit in her sexy single, “Scorpio,” or tossing love letters into a bonfire in “Love Letter,” or crying behind her keyboard at the Hard Rock Café in “Breakthrough,” or singing with the Pittsburgh Pride Choir, Joey Young is putting herself out there, and the exposure is paying off.
This year, Joey Young is wearing two crowns; in January, the dynamic diva was crowned Miss Blue Moon 2025 at the Blue Moon Bar in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville, and in April, she garnered a second bejeweled crown when she became Miss Continental Newcomer 2025 at the second annual Mr. & Miss Continental Newcomer Pageants at the Baton Show Lounge in Chicago, Illinois. The Miss Continental Newcomer title is a recent addition to the pageant pantheon. It is a subdivision (one of four that includes Mr. Continental, Miss Continental Plus, and Miss Continental Elite ) of the Miss Continental pageant system.
But Joey wasn’t ready to stop her meteoric rise to the top. Over Labor Day Weekend, Joey Young entered the larger Miss Continental 2026 competition, placing in the Top 5, winning the interview portion, and leading in a very successful Q&A.
The Miss Continental competition has long been a test of endurance for iconic queens, including Candis Cayne (Miss Continental 2001), Sasha Colby (Miss Continental 2012), and Brooke Lynn Hytes (Miss Continental 2014).
Joey attended the competition with a cavalcade of queens, including Anemia Blunt Young, Warren Munroe, L.A. Gaga, and Primadonna. Even RuPaul’s Drag Race and All-Stars competitor extraordinaire, Pittsburgh superstar, Lydia Butthole Kollins, showed up for support.
Young grew up at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers in McKeesport, right outside of Pittsburgh. Lydia B Kollins often remarks that Joey Young is “home-grown to the bone.”
Young was born to be a performer. Barely a month old, Young appeared as the Baby Jesus in the local nativity scene as far back as 2001. A star was born.
Young said, “As a small child, I used to perform routines from ‘Hannah Montana,’ ‘The Cheetah Girls,’ and other Nickelodeon and Disney shows. I used to charge my parents to sit on the couch and watch me sing and dance. It was five dollars per person.”
Always get the money up front.
“I looked at Joey Young and said ‘I want to be her when I grow up,’ only to find out that I’m a year older!”
Anemia Blunt-Young
Before drag, the young Young appeared in a plethora of theatrical performances, as part of the McKeesport Little Theater’s Juniors (grades 5 through 12). Joey said, “I was my sister Jen’s shadow. I wanted to do anything she did. When I saw Jen in a production of ‘True Tales of Robin Hood,’ I was hooked. I had to do theater.”
Young went on to perform in “Seussical the Musical,” among many other shows at the theater.
Director Lora Oxenreiter cast Young in a production of “Over the Tavern,” a comedy-drama about a Polish family living in Buffalo, New York, in the late 50s.
Oxenreiter said, “I met Joey when she was fifteen. I cast Joey against type. I cast her as the high school jock in ‘Over the Tavern,’ and she worked her ass off for that part. Joey Young was born to be a performer. She is amazing. I’m so happy she found her bliss.”
Young laughed, “I had to play this boy who was addicted to nudie magazines. It was a whole new experience for me.”
Young began her journey into the limelight, writing and singing in cafes and coffee shops. Young said, “I went out to Jeanette, PA, to perform at the Keynote Café. I brought outfit changes and wigs. I called it ‘drag lite.’ I didn’t let anyone discourage me from being me.”
At seventeen, Joey was dancing at Chrome Empire Pole Fitness Studio in Robinson. Young said, “When she was teaching at another studio, Ebony Seskey advocated for me, but I wasn’t wanted at the place she was teaching. Then, she opened Chrome Empire, and she made it an inclusive space.”
Young said, “My parents have been very supportive. They came to Chicago to see me perform in the Miss Continental pageant.”
It wasn’t always easy. Young grew up in a conservative home. Young said, “My Aunt Andrea was my first ally. She was a flight attendant and had a lot of queer and trans friends.”
When Young was sixteen, her beloved Aunt Andrea passed away. Months later, her father, a firefighter who was called to New York City to aid in the rescue efforts at 9/11, contracted lymph nodal cancer, most likely due to the toxins in the air at the site of the World Trade Center. Young believes that the cancer diagnoses helped her father come to terms with Joey’s journey. Young said, “My dad knows who I am in my heart.”
Anemia Blunt, from the House of Young, and Joey’s drag daughter, said, “I met Joey two and a half years ago at the Hard Rock Café. Joey has such an endearing personality. She brightens up every room. When I met her, I was just a drag enthusiast at the time, and I looked at Joey Young and said, ‘I want to be her when I grow up,’ only to find out that I’m a year older!” Blunt, who resembles Lydia when in drag, laughed.
Warren Munroe, who takes her last name from Ororo Munroe, the X-Man known as Storm from the iconic Saturday morning cartoon, met Joey when Munroe moved here from New York. Warren is an effervescent queen, titillated by Joey’s rise to fame. Munroe said, “Joey has always given me such great advice. She has encouraged me to be social, make friends, and branch out. Joey is a Pittsburgh icon!”
Anemia and Warren were members of an elite posse of hard workers who spent all night stoning a beautiful black and white gown with thousands of rhinestones the night before the Miss Continental competition. Munroe said, “We were up till six a.m. stoning that gown.”
Jim Flint, who founded the Continental pageants, gave Joey Young the highest compliment. On stage, he said, “Joey Young reminds me of a young Maya Douglas.” Douglas won the Miss Continental title in 1985 and the Miss Continental Elite title in 2006. His pronouncement nearly made Joey’s mascara run.
As Young moves up on the pageant circuit, she remembers those who came before her. Young said, “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Luna Skye, Calipso, Indi Skies, Joe My Gosh, Jaxa Froot, and, of course, Scarlet Fairweather.”
Young praised the Pittsburgh community. Young said, “The community helped form who I am.”
Scarlet Fairweather also called Joey Young a Pittsburgh icon. Fairweather said, “I remember watching Joey coming up through the open stages, winning Pride pageants, and making their mark on this city. Any time they met with a negative comment, Joey proved naysayers wrong not by being petty but by showcasing their talent.”
Fairweather added, “Watching Joey win a national title, place top 5 in continental and win 2 categories, and the Blue Moon pageant all in the same year has been a treat. That kid’s going places and we’re all lucky to be here for the ride. Joey has consistently proven that with a lot of work, and a strong community, anything is possible. They are an unstoppable force, and I can’t wait for their run for president (or at least the opening of the Joey Young Arts Department at McKeesport High School).”
Photos by Ava Grace.
