Transgender beauty queen sues United States of America Pageant after being rejected for not being 'natural born female'
Beauty queen contender Anita Green is suing the United States of America Pageant after being denied a chance to take part in the pageant. Green is biologically male and transgender and her sex has been cited as a reason for the rejection, according to a report in Washington Times. The pageant's rule limits competition to "natural born female", which Green alleges is a form of gender discrimination.
The pageant's website has also barred contestants who have posed nude in film or print or even contestants who have given birth to children.
Green holds the title of 2019 Miss Earth Elite Oregon and competed in the 2018 Miss Montana contest. When she had applied to participate in the Miss United States of America Pageant in 2018 she was rejected. Green's lawsuit says that the pageant's policy is discriminatory because it denied her the full and equal advantages and privileges of the defendant’s services in violation of Oregon’s public accommodations law,
Green filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Portland, Oregon. Despite the pageant based in Nevada being a private business, Green's suit contends that the pageant's way of operation requires that it follow Oregon public accommodation law.
Green's suit aims at bringing an end to the pageant's alleged discriminatory policy and remove the restrictions that prevent transgender candidates from competing. The suit asks that a judge put a stop to the United States of America Pageant's rule.
Speaking about her lawsuit, Green said, "This is about giving minorities a voice. I believe I’m beautiful, and I want to set an example for all women — cisgender and transgender — that beauty doesn’t have to fit into specific molds.”
Note: The headline earlier said the transgender woman was suing Miss USA pageant. It's actually the Miss United States of America Pageant, a separate organization, that's being sued.