Grace Burgess is the preliminary talent victor at the competition in Boardwalk Hall at Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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She is slated to sing in the contest’s talent competition.
Miss America will kick off September 6th, in Atlantic City.
While O’Flaherty is the first openly gay contestant to compete at Miss America, Sky News reported at least one other former contestant came out as a lesbian after competing in the pageant.
She said while her sexuality is “certainly a big part of who I am”, she added: ‘There will be many appearances that I do that have nothing to do with that’. “I’m ready to go to Miss America, and I’m really happy to have made history”, O’Flaherty said on “Entertainment Tonight.”
Erin O’Flaherty, who was crowned Miss Missouri, will run on the platform of suicide prevention.
Miss Tennessee Grace Burgess, left, and Miss District of Columbia Cierra Jackson, right, speak with reporters after winning preliminary competitions in the first night of the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, Tuesday, Sept.
The chief operating officer of the Miss America Organization, Josh Randle, said their pageant is reflecting “our nation’s evolution”.
“I felt it was up to me to try my best to carry on his legacy”, she said.
Jackson called her swimsuit win ‘a blessing’.
Shields, who hails from Fayetteville, Ark., is a fine arts major at the University of Arkansas and says her “secret dream” is to become a background dancer for Beyonce.
Meet the 52 women vying for the title of Miss America 2017.
Supporting the military, helping children and seniors figured prominently in the onstage interviews some of the contestants gave.
Miss Michigan, Arianna Quan, spoke about immigration and helping people show pride in their heritage.
“As we’ve all seen with this election year, a talk about immigration has been extremely painful”, she said.
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Beijing-born Quan said she hopes to ‘provide tools to Americans to celebrate their backgrounds’.
