Amid the photographs of beauty contestants competing in Miss California USA this weekend are those of two young women who are making history. Jenelle Hutcherson, 26, of Long Beach and Mollie Thomas, 19, of West Hollywood are the first openly gay contestants in the year history of the state pageant, whose winner will go on to compete in Miss USA, the national pageant. All-day rehearsal in five-inch heels, ouch! Bring it on. During the first round on Saturday, contestants will don swimsuits and evening wear. Only 20 women will be selected for the final round on Sunday.

By Christine Hauser. But in the brief, get-to-know-me videos posted on her official Miss Missouri Facebook page , there is scant mention of the main reason that she has attracted so much attention before the Miss America finale on Sunday in Atlantic City: Ms. The year-old from Missouri is being heralded as a trailblazer in the constellation of pageants, upending the notion that contestants are exploited in an old-fashioned, heterosexual-dominated forum that dictates how women should look, and what, or how little, they should wear. And individuals come in all identities. In a telephone interview on Thursday, Ms.

A beauty queen is set to lose her crown after being accused of testing positive for cocaine, lustily kissing a fellow contestant and sneaking men into their flat, it has been reported. Conner packed her bags and left the bachelorette pad last week and cancelled a scheduled Miami charity appearance. He added that if she got the boot, runner-up Miss California Tamiko Nash would take over the coveted role. Last month Miss Great Britain Danielle Lloyd was ousted for allegedly failing to declare that she was going out with judge Teddy Sheringham.

A woman who was recently crowned Miss Utah USA after competing in the pageant five times will be the first openly bisexual contestant to compete for the Miss USA title in the competition's nearly year history. The winner, who has been open on social media about her struggles with mental health and "finally coming to terms" with who she is as "a queer woman," said though the win was "hard to believe," she is ready to change limiting perceptions of beauty with her platform. Slawson recalled the first time she tried to end her life, she was 19 years old and had lost the Miss Utah USA competition.