Miss United States of America has won the right to ban trans women from the competition

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Miss United States of America has won the right to ban trans women from the competition
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The Miss United States of America pageant has been given the green light to refuse transgender contestants after a federal judge in Oregon threw out a discrimination lawsuit against the competition on February 25.

Anita Noelle Green, a successful transgender beauty pageant queen and winner of Miss Earth Elite Oregon 2019, filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Miss United States of America pageant after she was barred from competing in 2019, reported the Oregonian.

According to Them, Green was told to apply to the competition by Miss United States of America producers. After sending in her application and application fee, producers rescinded their invitation, stating the competition was for "natural-born women," or women assigned female at birth.

"I want to participate in pageants for the same reason every woman wants to - to gain a sense of confidence and poise, and to feel beautiful and glamorous," Green said in court documents acquired by Courthouse News.

Attorneys for Miss United States of America argued that, because the organization is private, it is allowed to express its values as a pageant for "natural-born women."

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Oregon judge Michael W. Mosman threw out the lawsuit, stating that the beauty pageant was protected under the first amendment and that "pageant is an 'expressive' organization, rather than a commercial one," reported Courthouse News.

"Contrary to what people might think, my client, the pageant, is a supporter of diversity. It believes there can be a Miss Black USA pageant, a Miss Native American pageant or a transgender pageant," John T. Kaempf, an attorney for Miss USA, told the Oregonian.

While her lawsuit was thrown out, Green said the case brought needed visibility to discrimination against trans women within the pageant world and more broadly.

"This case brought awareness to an issue many people were and still are unaware of and that issue is that discrimination against transgender people is still actively happening in the private and public sector even within the pageant circuit," Green told the Oregonian.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect that Miss United States of America is not the same as Miss USA. Transgender contestants cannot compete in Miss United States of America; they can in Miss USA.

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