TALLAHASSEE, FL – Last Friday, the Miss America Organization notified Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier that the pageant has “altered’ its contract language to clarify what a woman is after previous language had redefined “female” to allow biological males to compete. The notification was in response to a letter AG Uthmeier sent to the Miss America Pageant cautioning it may be violating the state’s deceptive advertising law for promoting a female-only competition but then “surreptitiously” allowing gender-confused males to compete.
After Kayleigh Bush, Miss North Florida 2025, won the Miss Florida Scholarship Program in the fall of 2024, the Miss Florida program did not allow her to enjoy any of the benefits that came with her crown after she refused to sign a Miss America contract that falsely defined “female” to include gender-confused males. Bush objected to the false definition as contrary to her religious beliefs and Florida law.
Liberty Counsel has represented Bush to reverse this nonsensical contract that Miss America presented to her. When Bush refused to sign this newly minted contract, the Miss America Organization refused to allow her to continue competing. And, to this day, the organization has not provided Bush her rightful scholarship, which was one of the benefits of being crowned Miss North Florida.
Liberty Counsel sent two demand letters to the Miss America Organization with proposed language. However, Miss America refused to budge. Miss America’s actions then came to the attention of the Florida Attorney General, which sent a letter to the Miss America Organization last Friday stating it likely violated the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act through misrepresentation by promoting a pageant for females while allowing males to compete.
In its response, the law office for the Miss America Organization now defined “biological woman” as a person having “two x chromosomes.” The original contract language Bush refused to sign stated:
- 2.3.5.1. Sex. The Applicant must be a Female. “Female” means a born female or an individual who has fully completed Sex Reassignment Surgery via Vaginoplasty (from male to female) with supporting medical documentation and records. (emphasis added)
Ultimately, this contract language required female beauty candidates to agree to compete against biological males – who have been subjected to irreversible surgical procedures as minor boys.
According to a photograph obtained by Cox Media Group’s Jacksonville news affiliate, the updated contract language reads:
- 2.3.5.1. Sex. The applicant must be a naturally born Female. “Female” means a born female or born an intersex female individual (defined as one born with two x chromosomes with nonconforming genitalia) who has fully completed Sex Reassignment Surgery via Vaginoplasty with supporting medical documentation and records. (emphasis added)
The Miss America Pageant’s response to AG Uthmeier noted that in the “rare circumstance” that a woman is born with “unmatched genitalia,” she can compete if she “corrects that anomaly” through surgery. The language no longer suggests that males can become females.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “We are pleased that Miss America has finally come to its senses and revised its contract to remove the ridiculous statement that a boy can be a girl. A boy cannot be a girl. Miss America now knows what a woman is—a common sense understanding that Kayleigh Bush knew instinctually. Miss America should now reinstate the benefits of Bush’s crown, including the scholarship that she rightfully deserves.”
For more information about Kayleigh Bush’s story, visit LC.org/crown.
About Liberty Counsel
Founded in 1989, Liberty Counsel is a 501(c)(3) non-profit litigation, education, and policy organization that advances religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and the family.
Liberty Counsel is supported by tax-deductible donations and maintains offices in Central Florida, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
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