Miss USA — a DEI proponent — resigns crown, citing her 'mental health'



The Miss USA organization says it will now have to undergo a "transition of responsibilities" after the reigning Miss USA has elected to resign.

Last September, Noelia Voigt of Utah was crowned Miss USA. Two months later, she went on to represent the U.S. at the Miss Universe pageant in El Salvador, where she cracked the top 20.

"Prioritize your mental health."

However, on Monday, just eight months into her reign, Voigt announced on Instagram that she was resigning the crown, ostensibly to care for her "mental health."

"Deep down I know this is just the beginning of a new chapter for me," she wrote in part, "and my hope is that I continue to inspire others to remain steadfast, prioritize your mental health, advocate for yourself and others by using your voice, and never be afraid of what the future holds, even if it feels uncertain."

In a message accompanying the post, Voigt, 24, admitted that the news would likely "come as a large shock to many." "Never compromise your physical and mental well-being," she continued. "Our health is our wealth."

Claudia Michelle, a former social media director for the Miss USA organization, noted in her resignation letter posted to Instagram last Friday that she likewise observed a "decline" in Voigt's mental health recently. "I feel like her ability to share her story and her platform have been diminished," Michelle claimed.

Voigt, who survived childhood cancer and later attended the University of Alabama, competed in state pageants four times total. The first three times, she won first runner-up. Despite those setbacks, she ran once again and won Miss Utah in April 2023.

"It could have been very easy for me, all those times getting first runner-up, to just say, 'I can't do this anymore, I'm so frustrated,'" she said in October. "But instead, every time I got first runner-up, it was more fuel to the fire for me to keep on going. And I think that hard work really paid off."

As part of mental wellness, Voigt made "anti-bullying" a focus of her advocacy during her brief time as Miss USA. She also drew significant attention to her background as a first-generation American, noting in her Instagram announcement that she was "the first Venezuelan-American woman to win Miss USA."

Perhaps because of her background, she likewise championed "immigration rights and reform," according to her statement, as well other leftist causes, including DEI. Just weeks after her Miss USA victory, she told People: "Miss USA is a symbol of unity and diversity and inclusivity."

"If the United States is going to call themselves the land of opportunity and a place where you can achieve the American dream," she added, "… Miss USA should be able to represent all of them."

The Miss USA organization issued a statement following Voigt's resignation. "We respect and support former Miss USA Noelia Voigt’s decision to step down from her duties," a spokesperson said.

"The well-being of our titleholders is a top priority, and we understand her need to prioritize herself at this time. The organization is currently reviewing plans for the transition of responsibilities to a successor and an announcement regarding the crowning of the new Miss USA will be coming soon."

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Federal court: Constitution protects beauty pageant's right to exclude transsexual whose presence undercuts expression of real womanhood



The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on Wednesday that a national beauty pageant doesn't have to include a transsexual claiming to be a woman.

A 2-1 majority on a three-judge panel determined that the Nevada-based Miss United States of America pageant's message about womanhood cannot be divorced from its selection of participants. Forcing the pageant to accept the transsexual plaintiff would "fundamentally alter" the pageant's "expressive message in direct violation of the First Amendment."

The lawsuit

"Anita" Green is a transsexual Democrat from Oregon who claims to be a woman. Green started taking hormone replacement therapy at the age of 18. Green claimed in a 2017 opinion piece that he "started living full time" as a "woman" at the age of 19.

Green has been permitted to compete against real women in a number of pageants including Miss Montana USA, Miss Earth, and Ms. World Universal. Although Green missed the Miss Montana top ten by a long way, Green was the titleholder for Miss Elite Earth Oregon in 2019.

In 2019, Green was barred from Miss United States of America's 2019 Oregon pageant on the basis that Green is not a woman. The rules for the United States of America Pageants (Teen, Miss, and Ms.) all require that entrants are "natural born female[s]".

Green told Willamette Week, "I felt as though I was being invalidated ... I felt as though the organization was saying I am not woman and I'm not woman enough."

Green, precluded from edging out biological women in Oregon to compete with 49 real women nationwide, sued the pageant in December 2019.

The Oregonian reported that the suit Green filed in a U.S. District Court in Portland contended that while the Nevada-based pageant corporation is a private business, the way it operates requires that it follow Oregon public accommodation law.

Green's lawyer said the "Defendant's 'natural born female' policy is not only unlawful, but it sends a hurtful and false message to transgender women that they are not women. Pageants that operate in Oregon must comply with Oregon law and may not discriminate on the basis of gender-identity."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reckoned otherwise.

The federal appellate court's decision

The federal appellate court voted 2-1 in favor of the Miss United States of America pageant, ruling none of Green's arguments were persuasive.

Judge Lawrence VanDyke, who sided with the pageant, wrote for the majority: "As with theater, cinema, or the Super Bowl halftime show, beauty pageants combine speech with live performances such as music and dancing to express a message. ... And while the content of that message varies from pageant to pageant, it is commonly understood that beauty pageants are generally designed to express the ‘ideal vision of American womanhood.'"

VanDyke noted that the pageant's constitutionally protected message concerning what constitutes womanhood and what female qualities ought to be extolled "cannot be divorced from the Pageant's selection and evaluation of contestants."

Type, quality, and group selective casting is neither unprecedented nor always controversial.

The court referenced the Broadway musical "Hamilton," noting that the "expressive decision" to cast nonwhite actors to play white Founding Fathers was "applauded," but also believed to be "central to the message of the musical itself. ... And this message could be delivered only by excluding certain people from performing."

Similarly, in a production such as a women's pageant, the decision to have particular kinds of participants (women) is central to the message, in this case, about womanhood.

VanDyke wrote that the Miss United States of America pageant "would not be able to communicate 'the celebration of biological women' if it were forced to allow Green to participate."

The First Amendment protects the pageant's right to voice this message and "mandates that we presume that speakers, not the government, know best both what they want to say and how to say it."

VanDyke quoted another judgment, writing, "'There can be no clearer example of an intrusion into the internal structure or affairs of an association than a regulation that forces the group to accept members it does not desire.'"

The AP reported that John Kaempf, the attorney representing the pageant, recognized the court's dismissal of Green's lawsuit as "simple fairness."

Kaempf said, "The Ninth Circuit's conclusion says it all: 'Green asks to use the power of the state to force Miss United States of America to express a message contrary to what it desires to express. The First Amendment says no.'"

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Biological male wins female beauty pageant in Nevada



A transgender person is now one step closer to being crowned Miss USA.

Kataluna Enriquez, a biological male, won the Miss Silver State USA pageant this week, an event considered the biggest preliminary competition for the Miss Nevada USA pageant, KVVU-TV reported.

The outlet called it a "monumental win" for Enriquez, who will now move on to the statewide competition in the pageant circuit that leads to Miss USA and, eventually, the Miss Universe competition.

The pageants, collectively run by the Miss Universe Organization, were once owned by former President Donald Trump and are widely recognized for awarding among the most coveted crowns in the pageant world.

In an interview with the local news outlet after the victory, Enriquez called the experience "a celebration of womanhood and diversity and this celebration of being your true self."

First transgender titleholder crowned Miss Silver State USA youtu.be

But Enriquez noted that she has not always been so well liked in the pageant world. She recalled at a previous pageant, which she chose not to name in the report, when event organizers found out she was a transgender, they required her to provide medical documents to prove she was female. The organizers also allegedly refused to assign her a roommate.

"I was asked to provide documents that were invasive in my opinion physically asking me to get a letter from my doctor," Enriquez said. "It brought me back to a time where I felt like I was not welcome."

But according to KVVU-TV, Enriquez said instead of shying away from her transgender identity based on past experiences she has decided to make "awareness of the transgender community" her pageant platform.

That message evidently resonated in the Miss Silver State USA pageant and may prove to benefit Enriquez in upcoming competitions, especially as transgenderism gains popularity in progressive circles and pressure mounts to avoid even the slightest appearance of discrimination.

Over the last few years, pageant organizations have started to receive entries from more and more biological males and have been hit with backlash upon denying the participants from competing.

In 2018, Angela Ponce, winner of that year's Miss Universe Spain pageant, was at one point the favorite to be crowned Miss Universe.

The Miss Nevada USA pageant is scheduled for June, according to the report.

Transgender activist with male genitalia files human rights complaint after being rejected by a female-only beauty pageant



A Canadian transgender activist has filed a human rights complaint against Canada Galaxy Pageants after not being selected by the female-only pageant because she still has male genitalia.

What are the details?

Jessica Yaniv, formerly known as Jonathan Yaniv, filed the complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario this week alleging "discrimination based on gender identity, gender expression and sex, in violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code," according to a news release from the Justice Centre, which is providing legal counsel to the pageant.

Yaniv is reportedly seeking $10,000 in damages for "injury to dignity and feelings" and is requesting the tribunal rule that no organization can turn someone away solely because they have male genitalia.

But according to the Justice Centre, Yaniv, a "serial complainant," was intentionally dishonest, failing to disclose to the pageant that she still had male genitalia at the time of her application.

Here's more from the news release:

Yaniv has male genitals and was born a biological male, but now self-identifies as female. In May 2019, Yaniv applied to be a contestant in the Pageant, and was tentatively accepted. Yaniv did not mention being transgender prior to applying. At the time, Canada Galaxy Pageants had a formal policy of accepting genetic females as contestants, but would still accept transgender females who had fully transitioned and no longer had male genitals. This policy was noted in all paperwork and on the website. The pageant's policy has since been revised to include "genetic females and fully transitioned."

Furthermore, the pageant's reported policy at the time specifically excluded contestants with male genitalia since the contestants — which can include girls as young as 6 years old — share a common changing room. Not even contestants' fathers are allowed in the room, much less strangers with male anatomy.

"Biological women and girls must continue to have the freedom to associate with other biological women and girls in activities that serve their unique interests and needs as females," said Allison Kindle Pejovic, a staff lawyer with the Justice Centre. "Further, this beauty pageant has already made reasonable accommodations for fully transitioned transgender females without male genitals.

"It is imperative that biological women and girls, and fully transitioned transgender females, have safe, secure female-only places where they won't have to worry about seeing male genitals, or having individuals with male genitals looking at them," she added.

What else?

This is not the first time Yaniv has made headlines for making outrageous human rights complaints.

Last July, she filed 16 human rights complaints against salon workers in Canada who refused to wax her male genitals. Then in December, she raised another stink after being refused service at a gynecology office.

(H/T: The Daily Wire)