A transgender-identifying male beauty pageant contestant is celebrating a recent history-making win.
Brian Nguyen is the first biological man to win a Miss America competition after taking home the title of Miss Greater Derry 2023 in New Hampshire. Per the website, The Miss Greater Derry Scholarship Program provides scholarships to “young women” between the ages of 17 and 24.
Stunning and beautiful. pic.twitter.com/iEY44csjO6
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) November 10, 2022
Nguyen celebrated the win with a post on Instagram. “My name is Brian Nguyen, I am 19 years old, and I am currently a freshman at Nashua Community College majoring in Business Management,” the Instagram post says.
“I hope to use my degree so that I can create sustainable, ethical, and inclusive products such as clothing, cosmetics, and accessories. I also hope to continue to grow my career in the modeling and social media industry.”
The teen also publicized an initiative called, “#QueensAreEverywhere,” which is “a media movement that helps the next generation develop self-confidence, realize their potential, and become the leaders of their destiny.”
Nguyen further described the movement, saying it focuses on community members who “have faced adversity and teach how they overcame it.”
The contestant concluded, “I am ecstatic to be the FIRST transgender woman to be a Miss America local titleholder, and I hope to make everyone proud and become the first to walk the Miss America stage. I am Brían Nguyen, your Miss Greater Derry 2023, and I am so excited for my year of service, to compete for Miss New Hampshire in April, and to make you all proud.”
Nguyen took home the title just after a federal appellate court ruled that Miss United States of America LLC cannot be forced to include transgender-identifying men as contestants since it would obstruct the organization’s ability to express the “ideal vision of American womanhood.”
According to the ruling, the organization is allowed to enforce their “natural born female rule” because that rule is protected by the First Amendment.
The decision was made in response to a lawsuit filed by Anita Green, a trans-identifying male.
“I believe United States of America Miss is on the wrong side of history for choosing to actively discriminate against transgender people, but the road to creating meaningful change has always been a long and bumpy one,” Green said. “Transgender women are women. My message has always been consistent and my message is this: every person has beauty.”
Despite not being forced to include trans-identifying men, the Miss America organization can voluntarily include them, which is what happened with Miss Greater Derry 2023.
This is not the first time transgender-identifying individuals have entered the beauty pageant world. In October, a transgender person from Thailand purchased the Miss Universe organization, while in 2021, a trans-identifying contestant named Kataluna Enriquez snagged the title of Miss Silver State USA.