Drag queen Sharon Needles honored by city of Pittsburgh

Photo by Larry Roberts, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via Associated Press

After reading a proclamation in a Pittsburgh City Council meeting honoring drag queen Sharon Needles, right, Councilman Patrick Dowd goes to kiss her and gets her wig instead as Council President Darlene Harris reacts in the background, Tuesday, June 12, 2012 in Pittsburgh. Ms. Needles is the most recent winner of RuPauls Drag Race, a television competition. The City council declared June 12 "Sharon Needles Day.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A drag queen who won the most recent season of the "RuPaul's Drag Race" reality TV show has been honored by the Pittsburgh City Council and received a kiss from one councilman.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Councilman Patrick Dowd pecked the cheek of 30-year-old Aaron Coady, better known as Sharon Needles, who arrived in a blond wig, black gloves, black lipstick and pointy sunglasses.

Dowd says Needles "forces us to reconsider questions around young people and bullying and ask what can we do to be a more open and inviting city."

Needles told the council after it declared Tuesday "Sharon Needles Day" that "beneath the 30 pounds of makeup and corsets and gowns are real beating hearts of real people and they usually come from a place of pain."

Meanwhile, two former contestants on "RuPaul's Drag Race," Willam and Pandora Boxx, are scheduled to appear at the Knoxville bar The Edge on Saturday, June 23, in conjunction with Knoxville PrideFest