Miss Utah will be the first bi woman to compete in Miss USA

Slawson realized her queer identity after a nearly lethal struggle with bipolar disorder during her teenage years.

By Daniel Villarreal Wednesday, January 22, 2020 

Model Rachel Slawson was recently crowned Miss Utah in the state’s annual beauty pageant, making her the first bisexual contestant to compete for the title of Miss USA in the 67-year history of the pageant, according to the Blast.

This year was actually Slawson’s fifth time competing for the Miss Utah title. As the newly crowned winner, she is using her social platform to advocate for mental health, as she herself was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and attempted suicide in the past.

In an Instagram post, Slawson said that she tried to kill herself at age 19 after losing the Miss Utah pageant, wondering, “Why can’t I do enough?”

She wrote, “After a few trips to psych ward, [I] was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder (which is why I reacted so badly to losing a pageant) and finally figured out who I was as a queer woman.”

Slawson says that this time, unlike when she was 19, she entered the Miss Utah pageant thinking that she was good enough on her own.

Calling the crown “a new job,” she wrote, “I am so grateful for this crown. And I promise to do right by Utah and spend this year sharing my truth.”

Slawson will compete for the title of Miss USA later this spring. If she wins, she’ll go on to compete for the title of Miss Universe in December.

Slawson isn’t the first out LGBTQ woman ever to compete for the crown. In 2016, Miss Missouri, Erin O’Flaherty, became the first openly lesbian contestant to win a state title in the Miss America pageant. Like Slawson, she used her platform to advocate for mental health.

Last year’s Miss Universe beauty pageant also featured its first-ever out gay contestant, 20-year-old Swe Zin Htet (Miss Myanmar). Hers was a notable achievement considering that homosexuality is illegal in her home country.

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/01/miss-utah-will-first-bi-woman-compete-miss-usa/