Miss USA just welcomed its first ever openly transgender beauty queen
Anita Green has made history as the first ever openly transgender person to compete in Miss USA.
The 26-year-old broke a sizeable barrier last year when she became the first trans person elected as a national delegate to a nominating convention.
She cast the Missoula branch of the Montana Democrats’ vote for Bernie Sanders – and on Sunday, she smashed through another glass ceiling.
Green took part in Miss Montana USA, whose winner automatically qualifies for the national competition.
Ahead of the event, she said: “I would encourage the public to vote for me because they would be taking an active role in making history.
“There has never been an openly transgender woman to win a state title within the United States.
“I would be honoured to be the first!”
Unfortunately, Green did not triumph over the 19 other women going for the crown.
But she told People magazine that this time, it really was the taking part that mattered.
“I hope that competing inspires other transgender people to feel confident in themselves, and to feel comfortable to be who they are and not be ashamed of their transgender status,” she said.
The University of Montana graduate explained that she had both personal and activism-related reasons for entering.
“I wanted to do something that I thought would be fun and challenging, and this certainly has been challenging for me,” she said.
“This also gives me an opportunity for my voice to be heard.”
And happily, her fellow pageant queens welcomed her into the fold.
“I was actually pleasantly surprised by that,” she said.
I wasn’t expecting them all to be so accepting of me, but they have been, and it’s been a wonderful experience.”
