Miss Maryland’s First Transgender & More
The Miss USA pageant continues to embrace diversity and representation in its 73rd edition. Organized by fashion designer Laylah Rose and broadcast live on The CW on Sunday, the 2024 pageant welcomed history-making contestants, including its first openly lesbian state titleholder, the oldest woman to ever join the competition and a nationally recognized cowgirl.
Some of the trailblazer contestants benefited from recent rule changes in the Miss USA competition, including its age limit lift, which allowed all women aged 18 and over to compete for the first time this year.
This is the case of Miss Maryland 2024 Bailey Anne Kennedy, who is the first transgender contestant to win the state title, as well as the first Asian American and the first woman over the age of 28 to represent Maryland.
Bailey Anne, Miss Maryland USA, at the 73rd annual Miss USA Pageant at Peacock Theater on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles.
Gilbert Flores
Originally from Cambodia, Kennedy, who is 31 years old, is married to Casey Gup, a Naval Aviator graduate.
“Not everyone has to agree with the spaces that you occupy, and it doesn’t mean that you aren’t worthy of these opportunities. The work that I will do for the remainder of my life is to make sure that children who feel like me will never have to worry about the consequences of being who they are by simply being myself and being a positive contribution to society,” Kennedy wrote on her Instagram after her crowning in June.
Another contestant who is over 28 and leading change is Miss Arizona USA 2024, K Johnson. She competed in the Miss California USA pageant four times while attending college in San Diego and decided to have one last shot this year, after the recent rule changes. At 41, she is the oldest woman to ever compete for the Miss USA crown.
K Johnson, Miss Arizona USA, at the 73rd annual Miss USA Pageant at Peacock Theater on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles.
Gilbert Flores
Miss Connecticut 2024 Shavana Clarke, 29, is entering Miss USA history as the first openly lesbian Miss USA state titleholder. A first-generation Jamaican-American, Clarke is an activist for LGBTQ+ rights and mental health.
“Pride began as a protest and I am grateful to stand on the shoulders of all the incredible and brave individuals who paved the way for me and I’m filled with the upmost gratitude that as the first openly lesbian Miss USA state titleholder I can continue paving the way for others,” she said after a Pride Flag Ceremony in Connecticut in June.
Shavana Clarke, Miss Connecticut USA, at the 73rd annual Miss USA Pageant at Peacock Theater on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles.
Gilbert Flores
Miss Indiana 2024 Stephanie Sullivan, 33, also made Miss USA history as the first married woman and mother to win the Miss Indiana title.
Stephanie Sullivan, Miss Indiana USA, at the 73rd annual Miss USA Pageant at Peacock Theater on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles.
Gilbert Flores
Another name making headlines is Miss North Dakota 2024 Codi Miller, 31, who is a nationally recognized cowgirl. She won the title of Miss Rodeo North Dakota in 2014 and placed in the top 10 at Miss Rodeo America in 2015.
Codi Miller, Miss North Dakota USA, at the 73rd annual Miss USA Pageant at Peacock Theater on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles.
Gilbert Flores
The Miss USA 2024 pageant is currently owned by Laylah Rose. She took over the organization’s license for Miss USA and Miss Teen USA in 2023 from Thai transgender entrepreneur Anne Jakrajutatip, who acquired the Miss Universe Organization in 2022.
Rose is CEO of the VIP Pageantry television network, and she also has her own clothing brand called Laylah Rose Couture. Additionally, Rose is a member of the U.S. National Committee for U.N. Women, the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality.
Under Jakrajutatip’s administration, the Miss Universe Organization expanded into merchandising, including swimwear and beauty products.
Created by the Miss Universe Organization, which was founded by Catalina Swimwear, the first Miss USA pageant was held on June 28, 1952, in Long Beach, Calif. The pageant was initially organized as a way to promote Catalina Swimwear, and the winner of the pageant was awarded a contract to represent the company. The competition includes evaluations by a panel of judges who award scores to delegates based on their presentations of eveningwear, swimwear, as well as their responses to questions that spanned social and cultural topics.
The 73rd Miss USA pageant featured representatives from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Miss USA 2023 Savannah Gankiewicz, who took over the crown after former Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt resigned in May, crowned Miss Michigan Alma Cooper as her successor, who will go on to represent the United States at the Miss Universe 2024 pageant in Mexico in November.
