A transgender woman is controversially set to take the stage at this year’s Miss Georgia USA pageant.
Bella Bautista, 22, a former winner of Miss Buckhead USA 2022, will become the first-ever transgender contestant at the Georgia event when it is held in June.
The beauty queen’s participation comes amid President Trump’s crackdown on trans athletes being allowed to compete in sports under their non-biological gender, which Bautista said made her not sure if she would be accepted to compete.
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Bautista has been a vocal advocate for transgender athletes in sport, and previously testified to the Georgia Senate last month before it passed a bill that would ban them at school level sports.
The 22-year-old will join a growing list of transgender contestants in Miss USA pageants, with Kataluna Enriquez becoming the first person to compete at the national championship after winning the 2021 Miss Nevada USA.
Bailey Anne Kennedy went on to win the Miss USA Maryland last year, however transgender beauty queens’ participation has sparked controversy in recent years.
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Georgia became central to the national debate over transgender athletes’ inclusion in sports when trans swimmer Lia Thomas controversially won the 2022 NCAA Championship in the state.
One of the swimmers who Thomas beat, Riley Gaines, has gone on to become a staunch opponent of biological women competing against transgender athletes.
When Bautista testified in front of the Georgia Senate last month, she was arguing against the ‘Riley Gaines Act’, which would ban trans athletes to ‘ensure a level playing field for women.’
In her remarks to the senate, Bautista slammed lawmakers as she said: ‘The people are well-paid, well-rehearsed and the only thing they could reference was Lia Thomas. These people have nothing to work on except fearmongering.
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Her pleas failed as the legislation was approved in a 9-3 vote and is set to be voted on in the state House of Representatives in its current session.
While the issue of transgender beauty queens competing at Miss USA pageants has been dividing the contest since Enriquez’s inclusion in 2021, the contest has also been rocked by its own internal scandals.
The contest has been hit with allegations of bullying and abuse, leading 2023 winner Noelia Voigt to shockingly resign her crown last year over concerns for her ‘physical and mental wellbeing.’
Savannah Ganziewicz, who won Miss Hawaii in 2023, was named as the overall 2023 winner after Voigt resigned.
She made headlines with her resignation as she included a cryptic code in her statement, in which the first letter of each sentence spelled out ‘I AM SILENCED.’
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The beauty queen’s resignation was quickly followed by Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava, 17, also quitting, saying in her own statement that her values ‘no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.’
A third woman, Miss USA’s social media manager, also sensationally quit her job in what is believed to have been a coordinated move with the titleholders, slamming the management and saying she disavows ‘workplace toxicity and bullying.’
* Original Article:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14438511/amp/transgender-woman-miss-georgia-pageant-bella-bautista.html?ito=smartnews
