Evie Harris, Miss Coco Peru, Varla Jean Merman share Best Actress prize at U.S. Comedy Arts Festival (7946)

@ 2026 Equal Entertainment LLC.
All rights reserved

Evie Harris, Miss Coco Peru, Varla Jean Merman share Best Actress prize at U.S. Comedy Arts Festival
 Advocate.com Editors
          
          Mar 06, 2003
          
        
Advocate.com Editors
 See Full Bio 
       Drag artists Evie Harris (Jack Plotnick), Miss Coco Peru (Clinton Leupp), and Varla Jean Merman (Jeffrey Roberson) shared the Best Actress award at the recently concluded U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colo., reports indieWIRE.com. The three divas were honored for their starring turns in the comedy Girls Will Be Girls, which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. The gay-inclusive comedy Bend It Like Beckham won the jury award for Best Feature.     

        
        FROM OUR SPONSORS
        
    

        
        The Latest
        
    
Crime
        Remorseless Seattle man sentenced in hate crime beating of trans woman
    Andre Karlow, who said, "Trump should kill them all," appeared defiant as the judge imposed years of confinement for the attack.
Christopher Wiggins
National
        State Department visa rule sets stage for ICE scrutiny of transgender immigrants
    New visa requirements could create document conflicts that follow gender-nonconforming travelers into immigration enforcement databases.
Christopher Wiggins
Culture
        About four in ten Americans still view homosexuality as immoral, survey finds
    Women, young people, and high school finishers were more likely to view homosexuality favorably.
Jack Walker
National
        Donald Trump attacks trans women in Women’s History Month proclamation
    The president used the annual Women’s History Month message to promote policies restricting transgender Americans’ rights.
Christopher Wiggins

        
        More For You
        
        Liza Minnelli, flanked by a phalanx of dancers, surprises audience at the GLAAD Media Awards
    
Daniel Reynolds
Mar 06, 2026
Liza Minnelli at Peter Jay Sharp Theater on September 18, 2012 in New York City. The legendary actress made a surprise appearance at the 2026 GLAAD Media Awards.

        Kevin Mazur/WireImage
    
        You gotta ring them bells, GLAAD! Keep Reading →

        JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, is not having Ryan Murphy’s ‘grotesque’ new JFK Jr. show
    
Jacob Ogles
Mar 03, 2026
Kennedy family member Jack Schlossberg, who is running for Congress in New York, has been highly critical of producer Ryan Murphy's new show about the JFK Jr.

         Edna Leshowitz/Getty Images, Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images
    
        President John F. Kennedy’s grandson made it clear that the Kennedy family has no use for Ryan Murphy’s television dramatization of his uncle, John F. Kennedy Jr.'s, life. Keep Reading →

        Demi Lovato & Jonathan Bennett will headline a star-studded lineup for the 37th GLAAD Media Awards
    
Christopher Wiggins
Feb 23, 2026
Demi Lovato performs onstage during TikTok LIVE Fest 2026 at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on February 12, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

        Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for TikTok
    
        Global pop star Demi Lovato will perform at the 37th annual GLAAD Media Awards on March 5 in Los Angeles, with actor and producer Jonathan Bennett returning to host a ceremony that will stream exclusively on Hulu later this month, GLAAD announced Monday. The event will spotlight LGBTQ+ representation across film, television, music, and journalism. The Advocate, along with its sister publication, Out, is among the nominees for Outstanding Magazine. Keep Reading →

        Queer star Keke Palmer updates her sexual identity, 'I'm almost 100% sure I'm asexual'
    
Rachel Shatto
Feb 18, 2026
Keke Palmer attends the 8th Annual American Black Film Festival Honors at SLS Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Beverly Hills on February 16, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

        Brianna Bryson/FilmMagic
    
        If there is one thing Keke Palmer is going to do, it's keep it real. Keep Reading →

        Was 'Boots' canceled over politics? 'Absolutely not,' Netflix CEO says
    
Bernardo Sim
Feb 12, 2026
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos; Miles Heizer as Cameron Cope on Boots.

        Joe Seer/Shutterstock; Netflix
    
  Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has broken his silence on the cancelation of Boots, a gay TV series set in the U.S. Marine Corps. Keep Reading →

        Most Popular
        
Opinion
        The rainbow Pride pin James Talarico encouraged me to wear
    Well before he became Texas’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, James Talarico helped a nervous student leader find the courage to wear a rainbow Pride pin to meet Barack Obama writes Nathan Barrera-Bunch.
Nathan Barrera-Bunch
News
        Gay asylum seeker files claim for damages over Trump deportations to CECOT torture prison
    Andry Hernández Romero and five other Venezuelan men accuse the Department of Homeland Secuirity of unlawfully deporting them to El Salvador’s CECOT prison.
Christopher Wiggins
People
        Los Angeles Marathon nonbinary champion receives no prize money
    Cal Calamia won the race again, but left mostly empty handed.
Gisselle Palomera
States
        Iowa bans cities and towns from protecting transgender citizens’ civil rights
    A year after Iowa stripped gender identity from its civil rights code, Kim Reynolds signed a law barring cities and counties from restoring protections for trans residents.
Jacob Ogles
News
        New documentary cracks 1990 gay porn star’s murder case
    The unsolved murder, dubbed the “gay Black Dahlia,” was cracked wide open by filmmaker Rachel Mason.
Ariel Messman-Rucker
News
        Where is bi former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema now?
    Not in a place that will win her friends among progressives.
Trudy Ring

Site Navigation

Evie Harris, Miss Coco Peru, Varla Jean Merman share Best Actress prize at U.S. Comedy Arts Festival

The Latest

Remorseless Seattle man sentenced in hate crime beating of trans woman

Andre Karlow, who said, "Trump should kill them all," appeared defiant as the judge imposed years of confinement for the attack.

State Department visa rule sets stage for ICE scrutiny of transgender immigrants

New visa requirements could create document conflicts that follow gender-nonconforming travelers into immigration enforcement databases.

About four in ten Americans still view homosexuality as immoral, survey finds

Women, young people, and high school finishers were more likely to view homosexuality favorably.

Donald Trump attacks trans women in Women’s History Month proclamation

The president used the annual Women’s History Month message to promote policies restricting transgender Americans’ rights.

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to betold.

Ric Grenell to step down as Kennedy Center president after controversial tenure

36 Fetishes Every Gay Man Should Know

Hollywood Hunks Laid Bare: 1960s-1970s

The most searched gay adult entertainers of 2024 revealed

Johnny Mathis, the queer trailblazer and global superstar, takes a final bow

More For You

Liza Minnelli, flanked by a phalanx of dancers, surprises audience at the GLAAD Media Awards

JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, is not having Ryan Murphy’s ‘grotesque’ new JFK Jr. show

Demi Lovato & Jonathan Bennett will headline a star-studded lineup for the 37th GLAAD Media Awards

Queer star Keke Palmer updates her sexual identity, 'I'm almost 100% sure I'm asexual'

Was 'Boots' canceled over politics? 'Absolutely not,' Netflix CEO says

Most Popular

The rainbow Pride pin James Talarico encouraged me to wear

Well before he became Texas’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, James Talarico helped a nervous student leader find the courage to wear a rainbow Pride pin to meet Barack Obama writes Nathan Barrera-Bunch.

Gay asylum seeker files claim for damages over Trump deportations to CECOT torture prison

Andry Hernández Romero and five other Venezuelan men accuse the Department of Homeland Secuirity of unlawfully deporting them to El Salvador’s CECOT prison.

Los Angeles Marathon nonbinary champion receives no prize money

Cal Calamia won the race again, but left mostly empty handed.

Iowa bans cities and towns from protecting transgender citizens’ civil rights

A year after Iowa stripped gender identity from its civil rights code, Kim Reynolds signed a law barring cities and counties from restoring protections for trans residents.

New documentary cracks 1990 gay porn star’s murder case

The unsolved murder, dubbed the “gay Black Dahlia,” was cracked wide open by filmmaker Rachel Mason.

Where is bi former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema now?

Not in a place that will win her friends among progressives.

Latest Stories

Stay up to date with the latest in LGBTQ+ news with The Advocate’s email newsletter, in your inbox five days a week.

Evie Harris, Miss Coco Peru, Varla Jean Merman share Best Actress prize at U.S. Comedy Arts Festival

FROM OUR SPONSORS

The Latest

Andre Karlow, who said, "Trump should kill them all," appeared defiant as the judge imposed years of confinement for the attack.

New visa requirements could create document conflicts that follow gender-nonconforming travelers into immigration enforcement databases.

Women, young people, and high school finishers were more likely to view homosexuality favorably.

The president used the annual Women’s History Month message to promote policies restricting transgender Americans’ rights.

LGBTQ+ stories deserve to betold.

More For You

Most Popular

Well before he became Texas’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, James Talarico helped a nervous student leader find the courage to wear a rainbow Pride pin to meet Barack Obama writes Nathan Barrera-Bunch.

Andry Hernández Romero and five other Venezuelan men accuse the Department of Homeland Secuirity of unlawfully deporting them to El Salvador’s CECOT prison.

Cal Calamia won the race again, but left mostly empty handed.

A year after Iowa stripped gender identity from its civil rights code, Kim Reynolds signed a law barring cities and counties from restoring protections for trans residents.

The unsolved murder, dubbed the “gay Black Dahlia,” was cracked wide open by filmmaker Rachel Mason.

Not in a place that will win her friends among progressives.