GREG IN HOLLYWOOD

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Greg In Hollywood chats with Mr. Gay USA!

It was such a pleasure to meet the reigning Mr. Gay USA Michael Holtz a few days ago at the TV Academy’s LGBT event.

I’ll be seeing him again tonight because he is one of the honorary hosts of 6th Annual Life Out Loud event on the lot of Paramount Studios – a party that benefits the terrific LifeWorks Mentoring program which is now part of the LA Gay & Lesbian Center.

Michael told me his mom has come in from Florida to celebrate LA Gay Pride weekend with him. I was surprised to hear he wasn’t riding in Sunday’s parade but it sounds like he’ll be plenty busy at other events.

He was crowned in March and has since been busy appearing at fundraisers and doing public speaking.

“You kind of wonder, the way that people look at you, what they think of the title,” Michael admitted. “Do they look at you as a role model or do they think, ‘Why does HE deserve that?’”

But overall, it’s been a positive experience so far.

“It’s been a really refreshing and rewarding situation,” he said. “I was on a panel with Andy Cohen down at Miami Gay Pride and this girl raises her hand and said I had given her the inspiration to come out and to also pick up the bat and play softball again. Stories like that and Facebook messages and emails are just great. Of course you’re going to have the people that are going to frown upon what you are doing. Things like that make it so much more rewarding.”

, aoty-michael-holtz-01Michael is a former investment banker who is now CEO of Mkh20 Productions which produces open-wide swims and athletic events across the U.S. that directly benefit national LGBT organizations.

With last September’s Swim For Equality fundraiser, Michael was able to bring together 52 swimmers – including Olympian Greg Louganis – from six different states for a 1.7-mile swim off the coast of Malibu. The unique fundraiser raised $148,000 for Equality California.

Michael came up with the idea after organizing a similar event in New York City in 2009 – a 5K open water swim from Long Island to Fire Island that raised over $100,000 for the Stonewall Community Foundation.

He’s launching the GLAAD Athletic Initiative on the East Coast this year and working with Equality California on the West Coast.
Michael was also the first-runner-up in the Mr. Gay World competition earlier this year.
“The U.S. had never broken into the top five so being second was a really great accomplishment,” he said. “It was a great experience, just having interaction with 28 delegates from different countries was reward in itself.”
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