The Rhinestone Phoenix Charity Foundation has been a part of the Vancouver LGBTQIA+ community since 1980, with our first Mr. and Ms. Gay Vancouver B.C. Richard McGuiness and Pussy Galore. The "Gay" titles were held under the advisement of the Dogwood Monarchist Society for the first four years.

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Ms. Gay 4 Wiggins wanted to give her Mr. Gay Vancouver Crema a unique step-down gift; a society to call their own. The Founders played a crucial role in the establishing of the new society. The Founders included Emperor 8 Paul Landriault, Empress Emeritus Dame Rita Rhinestone, Ms. Wiggins and Miles Laphen. It was at this time that Crema's fantasy title was used in the creation of the society's name: The Phoenix Heraldic Society.

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Over the years, many people have held the title of Mr. and Ms. Gay Vancouver, using this platform to move onto other organizations such as Two-Sprit United and The DMS in Vancouver and beyond. The Society has gone through many changes including a name change in 1997 to our current name The Rhinestone Phoenix Charity Foundation.

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In our history we have also had the Legacy title Miss Gay Vancouver and in 2009 we introduced the Mx Gay Vancouver title.