Written by Tyshaia Earnest
In early summer, Erin O’Flaherty, 23, graciously earned her title as Miss Missouri. She progressed in the competition, not only representing the state of Missouri, but the LGBTQ community as well. Recently, O’Flaherty made history when she became the first openly gay contestant in the Miss America competition’s 95-year history. On September 11th, O’Flaherty took the stage along with the winners from other states, in hopes to gain the experience of a lifetime.
Since the beginning of the pageant’s long history, the contestants were told to choose a cause that is important to them as a part of the competition. Not only was she aspiring to be Miss America 2017, but she also had aspirations to use the pageant’s national limelight to provoke an even greater conversation about suicide prevention. She chose to work with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Trevor Project. When O’Flaherty is not competing, she works to provide suicide prevention programs to LGBTQ youth.
She says the topic of suicide is a tough subject, not only because she identifies as gay, but also because she lost a close friend of hers to suicide at the age of 13. Miss Missouri hopes that by sharing her story she will inspire others to open up about theirs. She had no trouble with being welcomed into the competition with open arms. The other contestants were really kind to her. As a matter of fact, she made longtime friends while competing .
One hardship she did encounter was viewers saying she did not look like a typical lesbian, but how does one look like a lesbian? Can we really depict what a lesbian should look like? She was overwhelmed by this at first because she never expected to become national news. However, through it all, the LGBTQ community supported her and stood behind her.
She did not advance to the competition’s finale, but she is now recognized as a “first.” Win or lose, O’Flaherty knew she would be coming out of the competition with something to be very proud of. Even though she did not win the Miss America competition she did accomplish one of her major goals; She shed more light on her cause and took her voice to a bigger platform .
The winner of the 2017 Miss America title was Miss Arkansas, Savvy Shields.