An openly lesbian is one of the candidates for the Miss America 2017 crown this weekend at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. She is Erin O’Flaherty, Miss Missouri.
Although lesbians and gays have been well-represented in behind the scenes of beauty pageants, O’Flaherty makes history as the first openly lesbian contestant in the pageant’s history, reported New York Post.
According to NBC, O’Flaherty’s platform is suicide prevention, an issue important to young gay people. However, she stressed, “People should understand that my year as Miss Missouri and hopefully as Miss America will not be solely about the fact that I'm gay.”
She continued, “While I honor the LGBT community and I am proud to be part of it, I have goals that have nothing to do with my sexuality. I encourage people to understand that this is who I am but it's not all that I am.”
O’Flaherty is one of the 52 candidates who hope to wear the crown on Sunday, Sept. 11. The other candidates are equally as interesting, with one desiring to be the first lady of her state, another one hoping to be a backup dance for Beyonce and a candidate wanting to meet former NFL player Tim Tebow and serve in one of his orphanages in the Philippines.
One candidate, Miss Michigan, has Asian roots. Arianna Quan was born in China and migrated to the U.S. when she was 14. As the first Asian-born Miss Michigan, it is no surprise that her platform is “Being American: Immigration & Citizenship Education.”
Miss District of Columbia, Cierra Jackson, was a communications intern in the White House. Miss Kansas, Kendall Ellen Schonekase, a victim of a vehicular crash because the driver was texting, is a nurse who treats a lot of patients in similar car accidents.
Djuan Trent, Miss Kentucky 2011, competed in Miss America that year but only came out in 2014. Patricia Yurena, twice Miss Spain and runner-up in Miss Universe 2013, also came out as a lesbian in 2014.