Green v. Miss USA - the First Amendment protects beauty pageant from being forced to say that an “openly transgender female” (i.e., a man) is a “natural born female”

November 4, 2022

This post is available to paid subscribers only. As always, thank you for your generous support, which helps me continue in the fight to protect the sex-based rights of women and girls and to stop the abolition of sex.

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On Wednesday November 2, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a beauty pageant can exclude men who claim to be women from competing. The pageant restricts competition to “natural born females” and the court ruled that it is a First Amendment violation to require the pageant to include men who claim to be women. 

Before anyone asks, I am categorically against beauty pageants. In 1968, feminists protested Miss America and had I been alive then, I would happily have joined them. Here is a very fun poster from that era, inviting women (only) to travel from New York City to Atlantic City for that very purpose ($5 for a bus ticket!).

Big thanks to the woman who dug the actual poster out of her files to be handed out at the WDI USA convention in September. 

Celebrating this ruling is NOT about celebrating beauty pageants. It is, instead, about celebrating women-only spaces and freedom of speech. When I first heard about the ruling, I was excited to hear that it was a victory for free speech. When I finally had time to read the ruling, I was thrilled to see that it signals so much more.