04/03/2021
It's a cruel twist of fate that on the same day that LGBTQ civil rights were enshrined in a new law in the United States of America, the Equality Act, a judge in Oregan ruled that the Miss America Beauty Pageant was an “expressive organisation” rather than a “commercial” one. Therefore, the pageant's bar on transgender women taking part stands in US law. Anita Noelle Green had brought the case, says the US LGBTQ portal Them.com after having her application fee returned by the pageant along with an explanation that only female born women are allowed to participate. The court documents from Miss USA repeatedly misgendered Green, even whilst the pageant organisers claimed that they were not anti-transgender. But the case might just lead to an unlikely alliance. Feminists and trans women are angry at Miss USA's existence for different reasons, and could in theory come together to disrupt the contest in future.
