Newly crowned Miss Missouri Erin O’Flaherty has come out as the first openly gay Miss America contestant. 
 
 Miss Missouri 2016 Erin O'Flaherty (r.) is the first openly gay woman to hold the title. (Brenda Fike/AP) 
 
 Ann Jolly, chairman of the board of the Miss Missouri Scholarship Organization, confirmed in a statement Wednesday that the brunette beauty is the first openly gay woman to be named Miss Missouri. 
 
 O’Flaherty, 23, said she came out at 18 and competed as an open lesbian throughout her pageant career. 
 
 "I'm on cloud nine really just to be Miss Missouri," she said. "I don't know that I intended to be the first [gay contestant] but I am. So I'm very excited about it." 
 
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 Her platform is suicide prevention, which she chose after her best friend in high school committed suicide, according to the Mexico Ledger. 
 
 Although she is a big supporter of the LGBT community, she hopes her sexual preferences don’t overshadow her many other talents. 
 
 Erin O'Flaherty (r.) poses with 2015 Miss Missouri McKensie Garber. (MissAmericaMO/via Twitter) 
 
 "My focus of my year isn't going to be that I'm gay," O'Flaherty said. "It's certainly a big part of who I am, and I will be promoting it and raising awareness for the LGBT community. But also there will be many appearances that I do that have nothing to do with that." 
 
 O'Flaherty, a graduate of the University of Central Florida, owns Rachel's Grove, a clothing boutique in Chesterfield. 
 
 She will compete in the Miss America pageant Sept. 11 in Atlantic City. 
 
 With News Wire Services ||||| The Miss America Pageant just made a bold and exciting move when it crowned the first openly gay contestant in the franchise's 95-year history. 
 
 Erin O'Flaherty, 23, was crowned Miss Missouri on Saturday and, according to chairman of the board of the Miss Missouri Scholarship Organization, Ann Jolly, she is the first openly gay woman to hold the title. 
 
 "My coming out was very public, which was hard because you want it to be very private," O'Flaherty told Riverfront Times. "The public access to that was very challenging because I wanted to protect my relationship and who I am, and come to terms with myself before the rest of the world got a chance to." 
 
 Hey there! Erin here, officially signing in as Miss MO 2016. So excited to serve this amazing state 💕 pic.twitter.com/MRlYYYLqsC — Miss Missouri (@MissAmericaMO) June 23, 2016 
 
 According to Entertainment Tonight, O'Flaherty also believes she will be the first openly gay contestant to compete in this fall's Miss America pageant, scheduled for Sept. 11 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 
 
 “I'm hoping that I can strike a really nice balance of staying true to the values of Miss Missouri and also being able to exercise my personal views,” she said. 
 
 While this may be the first time an openly gay woman has won a title in the Miss America pageant, there are a number of other beauty pageants around the world that celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, including Miss Gay Venezuela and Miss Trans Israel. ||||| Newly crowned Miss Missouri, Erin O’Flaherty, is breaking ground as the first-ever openly gay Miss America contestant. 
 
 O’Flaherty, 23, was crowned as the Show Me State’s representative to the national pageant on Saturday, and is the first openly gay woman to hold the title, said Ann Jolly, chairman of the board of the Miss Missouri Scholarship Organization. 
 
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 In an interview with the Associated Press, O’Flaherty said that she came out at 18, competed openly and knew that there was a possibility that she could be making history with her win. 
 
 "I'm on cloud nine really just to be Miss Missouri," she told the AP. "I don't know that I intended to be the first, but I am. So I'm very excited about it." 
 
 O’Flaherty sent her first official tweet from the Miss Missouri Twitter account on Wednesday, writing, “Hey there! Erin here, officially signing in as Miss MO 2016. So excited to serve this amazing state.” 
 
 Hey there! Erin here, officially signing in as Miss MO 2016. So excited to serve this amazing state 💕 pic.twitter.com/MRlYYYLqsC — Miss Missouri (@MissAmericaMO) June 23, 2016 
 
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 The clothing store owner, whose pageant platform is suicide prevention, also told the AP that she hopes to reach out to the LGBT community during her time as Miss Missouri, but added that it won’t be the only focus of her reign. 
 
 "My focus of my year isn't going to be that I'm gay," O’Flaherty explained. "It's certainly a big part of who I am, and I will be promoting it and raising awareness for the LGBT community. But also there will be many appearances that I do that have nothing to do with that.” 
 
 
 
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 O’Flaherty believes she will also be the first openly gay woman to compete in this fall’s Miss America pageant, which is scheduled for Sept. 11 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 
 
 “I'm hoping that I can strike a really nice balance of staying true to the values of Miss Missouri and also being able to exercise my personal views,” she said. 
 
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 ||||| Erin O'Flaherty, 23, was crowed the 2016 Miss Missouri on Saturday night, becoming the first openly gay woman to win a state pageant leading to Miss America. 
 
 O'Flaherty says she struggled with her sexuality growing up as a self-described "feminine girl" in Florence, South Carolina, and entered the pageant scene as a college student while still, publicly, in the closet. "Knowing I might be gay but also being very feminine was kind of confusing for me," O'Flaherty told Cosmopolitan.com, "because I didn't fit into the stereotypical category I had in my head for a woman in the LGBT community." "It took many years of struggle to figure out who I was," she continued. 
 
 Now, O'Flaherty wants to use her year as Miss Missouri to break boundaries, serve as a role model (not to mention prove that an out and proud lesbian pageant queen is as worthy of her tiara as anyone else), and advocate for suicide prevention, including a focus on the Trevor Project, an organization which is dedicated to preventing suicide among LGBT youth. 
 
 David Pickering Photography 
 
 Why did you want to enter the Miss Missouri — how did you get into pageants? 
 
 It was during my freshman year at University of Central Florida. The Miss UCF at that time was a woman I looked up to — I wanted to have the influence on my community that she had, and so I decided to enter the pageant. In 2013, I was crowed Miss University of Central Florida! It was through that I came to learn about, and fall in love with, the Miss America Organization, and so my goals became bigger, and I continued my involvement [in pageants]. The Miss America Organization is a huge provider of scholarships for women also, and after I graduated from UCF, I had some student loan debt. 
 
 I actually had taken a couple years off [from pageants], and this year was going to be the last year that I would be eligible to compete because of my age. I just kept coming back to it, thinking, I still want to be Miss America. I felt like I wasn't quite done yet. And all of the girls here [in Missouri] were really welcoming and really sweet, so it wasn't as intimidating as you might think. 
 
 Were you always open about your sexuality when competing in pageants, or was coming out in this context a difficult decision for you? 
 
 It's always been an internal struggle, deciding to come out in and of itself. But I never felt like I needed to hide it. I'm just not that kind of person. For the most part, my friends and close family I've always been out to, but I competed for one year before I was [publicly out] — and I knew that once I was open about it, I would actually do much better in pageants because I would know I was presenting who I really was. As I've become more and more open with who I am, and more comfortable with myself, that's really translated into my performance. 
 
 O'Flaherty performing her talent. David Pickering Photography 
 
 Does your sexuality ever come up in preliminary interviews or during the on-stage Q&A round? 
 
 I like to tie in my personal platform of suicide prevention with my personal experience of coming out in the gay community, when you have reactions that are supportive and not supportive, and [wanting to] be a source of support for teens in the LGBT community that are going through the same thing. 
 
 It is pretty unheard of to be a gay woman in the Miss America system. 
 
 I do talk about it to the judges in that sense. Sometimes there are follow-up questions because it is pretty unheard of to be a gay woman in the Miss America system, but I wouldn't say that there has been an interview at all when that was the only topic of conversation. They ask me about current events, they ask me about my platform, suicide prevention, they really ask about anything that piques their interest … They've always been really respectful. In my Miss Missouri interview, they asked me how my parents felt when I came out, which is a little bit of a personal question, but my parents were very supportive, so it wasn't awkward at all, really. 
 
 And I've never experienced homophobia, at least to my face. Most contestants are very accepting of me, and [mostly] it doesn't even come up. 
 
 You mentioned your platform is suicide prevention. Suicide is a huge problem in the LGBT community, especially among teens — do you plan on working with the LGBT community on this issue? 
 
 One of my best friends committed suicide when I was 13. As I navigated the grieving process, I became educated on the warning signs of suicide. It became my mission to spread this message — suicide is the second leading cause of death in individuals between the ages of 14 and 25, and the 11th leading cause of death, overall. And LGBT youth are actually eight times more likely to try to commit suicide compared to their straight peers. That's really what the Trevor Project, an organization I do work with, is all about. They act as a resource for LGBT youth; so far, this year, there have been almost 11,000 calls, texts, and chats into their hotline. That's really staggering. 
 
 Otherwise, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is another amazing resource. They hold an annual Out of the Darkness Awareness Walk in cities across the nation. Survivors of suicide — and by survivors of suicide, I mean somebody who has lost a loved one to suicide — come together and do a walk to remember those who have lost their lives to suicide each year. 
 
 David Pickering Photography 
 
 As Miss Missouri, do you feel like you can be a role model for other young women in the LGBT community? 
 
 I hope so — that's really my goal here. Growing up, I was very feminine. Knowing I might be gay but also being very feminine was kind of confusing for me because I didn't fit into the stereotypical category I had in my head for a woman in the LGBT community. It took many years of struggle to figure out who I was. Femme lesbians are underrepresented in the LGBT community. They certainly exist, but many find it very hard to be accepted. Often, they are confused with being heterosexual. This was my experience — one of my best friends, actually, that I met my freshman year of college, we came out around the same time and we've had the same struggle. But I absolutely feel a part of the LGBT community now that I am older. I have been able to connect with other femme lesbians and I am so proud to be a part of this community. I hope that I can just reach someone that needs the help that I could have used back then. 
 
 As much as it might be scary for me to come into a conservative state and to be who I am, at the same time, people have greeted me with open arms. 
 
 Has it been hard to live in states like Missouri, South Carolina, and Florida where they are generally more conservative than others? Have you felt any pressure to stay closeted for pageants or in your personal life? 
 
 I would never, ever let anybody pressure me to do that. This is who I am and the judges chose me! I'm not the kind of person who is going to give in to that pressure, but I actually haven't felt that much pressure. People have been very accepting so, as much as it might be scary for me to come into a conservative state and to be who I am, at the same time, people have greeted me with open arms. It's really shown me that, here in Missouri, our politics doesn't necessarily match our people all of the time. I know that there might be people who probably really don't agree with it, but I'm just going to try to be the best Miss Missouri that I can be and show that [my sexuality] is only one part of me. My service to the state is what's going to make me stand out to them. 
 
 Do you feel like you've broken a barrier? Does it feel extra special for you? 
 
 I do think it is a big deal to come into Miss America being open, because the visibility for the LGBT community is what we need right now. I'm just hoping I can be a voice to speak [on that]. 
 
 Follow Erin on Twitter and Instagram; follow Amanda on Twitter. ||||| Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Erin O’Flaherty became the first openly gay Miss America contestant in history when she was crowned Miss Missouri 2016 on Saturday, June 18. 
 
 O’Flaherty, 23, is excited to hold the Show Me State’s title (“I’m on cloud nine,” she told the Associated Press on Wednesday, June 22), but revealed she was hesitant about making her orientation known. 
 
 “I had my concerns about it. Progressive is not exactly a word people might think of when you think Missouri,” she told the Riverfront Times. 
 
 Brenda Fike/Ledger via AP 
 
 O'Flaherty, who owns a women’s boutique, first came out publicly after winning the title of Miss UCF as an 18-year-old freshman at her alma mater, the University of Central Florida. 
 
 “My coming out was very public, which was hard because you want it to be very private,” she said. “The public access to that was very challenging because I wanted to protect my relationship and who I am and come to terms with myself before the rest of the world got a chance to.” 
 
 While she has the nation’s attention, O’Flaherty plans to use her new role responsibly. She aims to raise awareness for the LGBT community, but that isn’t her only priority. Her platform also includes suicide prevention, a cause close to her heart after a friend of hers took their own life at the age of 13. 
 
 Brenda Fike/The Mexico Ledger via AP 
 
 “I don’t carry a rainbow flag with me everywhere I go, you know,” she said. “It’s not going to be my focus, but I certainly hope my presence will help people open up a little bit more. I’m very open about it. It’s never going to be something I try to hide because I’m very proud to be a member of the LGBT community.” 
 
 Tune in to the 96th annual Miss America pageant on Sunday, September 11, airing on ABC. 
 
 Get celeb fashion, beauty tips, and more delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up for the Us Weekly Style & Beauty newsletter now! ||||| Less than a year ago, a county commission in Missouri was so upset that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalizing gay marriage around the country that they lowered their flags to half mast. At the time, Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles called the ruling a “travesty.” 
 
 On June 18, the first openly gay Miss Missouri was crowned. Her name is Erin O’Flaherty and she jus so happens to be the first openly gay contestant to advance to Miss America ever. 
 
 Hey there! Erin here, officially signing in as Miss MO 2016. So excited to serve this amazing state 💕 pic.twitter.com/MRlYYYLqsC — Miss Missouri (@MissAmericaMO) June 23, 2016 
 
 O’Flaherty, whose platform is suicide prevention, told the Riverfront Times, “I didn’t choose to be the first; I just am. Often you hear that our politics don’t always match our people and I think that’s really true. What I’m going to try to do this year is open up people’s eyes and minds a little bit.” 
 
 She also said that she knows it will be hard, since Missouri isn’t exactly known for being progressive. 
 
 We reached out to Skiles and the Dent County Commission to see how they feel about being represented by O’Flaherty at the Miss America pageant in September but there was no answer. We will try again and if we hear back, will certainly update the post. 
 
 [image via Twitter] 
 
 Go to Twitter or Facebook for more from Lindsey. 
 
 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri has its first openly gay Miss Missouri, and she will represent the state at the Miss America pageant later this year. 
 
 Erin O'Flaherty, 23, was crowned Miss Missouri on Saturday in Mexico, Missouri, and is the first openly gay woman to be named Miss Missouri, said Ann Jolly, chairman of the board of the Miss Missouri Scholarship Organization. 
 
 O'Flaherty said Wednesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that she came out as gay when she was 18, competed openly and knew going into the Miss Missouri pageant that she'd be making history if she won. 
 
 "I'm on cloud nine really just to be Miss Missouri," she said. "I don't know that I intended to be the first, but I am. So I'm very excited about it." 
 
 O'Flaherty believes she also will be the first openly gay woman to compete in the Miss America scholarship pageant, which is scheduled for Sept. 11 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A spokeswoman for the Miss America pageant didn't immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday. 
 
 O'Flaherty, who is from South Carolina, said her platform is suicide prevention. While she hopes to reach out to the gay community, she said that will not be the sole focus of her reign as Miss Missouri. 
 
 "My focus of my year isn't going to be that I'm gay," said O'Flaherty, who owns a clothing store in suburban St. Louis. 
 
 "It's certainly a big part of who I am, and I will be promoting it and raising awareness for the LGBT community. But also there will be many appearances that I do that have nothing to do with that. And so I'm hoping that I can strike a really nice balance of staying true to the values of Miss Missouri and also being able to exercise my personal views."
– Missouri has its first openly gay Miss Missouri, and she will represent the state at the Miss America pageant later this year, the AP reports. Erin O'Flaherty, 23, was crowned Miss Missouri on Saturday in Mexico, Missouri, and is the first openly gay woman to be named Miss Missouri, said Ann Jolly, chairman of the board of the Miss Missouri Scholarship Organization. O'Flaherty said Wednesday in a telephone interview with the AP that she came out as gay when she was 18, competed openly, and knew going into the Miss Missouri pageant that she'd be making history if she won. "I'm on cloud nine really just to be Miss Missouri," she said. "I don't know that I intended to be the first, but I am. So I'm very excited about it." O'Flaherty believes she also will be the first openly gay woman to compete in the Miss America scholarship pageant, which is scheduled for Sept. 11 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A spokeswoman for the Miss America pageant didn't immediately return a call from the AP seeking comment Wednesday, but many other outlets including Mediaite, the New York Daily News, Us magazine, Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Tonight, the Huffington Post, and others say she will be the first openly gay Miss America contestant. O'Flaherty, who is from South Carolina, said her platform is suicide prevention. While she hopes to reach out to the gay community, she said that will not be the sole focus of her reign as Miss Missouri. "I'm hoping that I can strike a really nice balance of staying true to the values of Miss Missouri and also being able to exercise my personal views," she says.