Maryland, My Maryland

'Bailey Anne' Kennedy

 Mary Margret Olohan at Da Signal, Miss Maryland Contestants Push Back After Male Winner Steals Their Crown 

But on June 1, when the beauty pageant crowned a man the winner of Miss Maryland USA, a number of the contestants felt that they had not been granted that fair and supportive environment they were promised.

The male winner goes by the name Bailey Anne Kennedy and identifies as a transgender woman. The day that he was crowned Miss Maryland USA was also the first day of Pride Month—a fact that was not lost on the contestants.

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“I was shocked,” one contestant told The Daily Signal as she described how she found out that she was competing against a man. This contestant, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her privacy, will be identified as Contestant A. “I had mixed feelings. I started to think that the winner might be predetermined.”

“A transgender woman gets crowned during first day of transgender Pride Month?” she asked. “It did not seem like a coincidence. Especially when owner of the pageant is a transgender woman herself. I was feeling like neither myself nor my fellow contestants had a fair opportunity from the beginning.”

A beauty contest rigged? Whodda thunk!