The preliminary rounds of Miss American 2017 run from September 6 to September 8, and the victor will be crowned September 11.
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Erin O’Flaherty, 23, who was crowned Miss Missouri in June, was the first gay victor of that competition. ‘I know he’s looking down and smiling on me with a big grin on his face’.
The Miss America competition has been around for more than 95 years, but 2017 will mark the first year that the first openly gay contestant will compete for the crown.
It was the first of three nights of preliminary competition at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.
“It’s overwhelming the amount of love and support I’ve received not only from the LGBT community, but from so many others as well”, O’Flaherty told CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield.
Erin O’Flaherty was crowned Miss Missouri in June, giving her the chance to compete for the crown. “It’s really shown me that, here in Missouri, our politics doesn’t necessarily match our people all of the time. My service to the state is what’s going to make me stand out to them”.
O’Flaherty, who owns a clothing store, said she represents a platform of suicide prevention.
“Through every major milestone of our nation’s evolution, Miss America has provided a voice for women from all walks of life, and, this year, we welcome our first openly gay contestant”, he said.
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Hitchen said the social activism of many Miss America contestants resonates with the gay community; the Miss’d America drag queen parody pageant raises $300,000 a year for local and national charities and has become the top social event of the year in Atlantic City’s gay community.
