Not one but two gay women are competing to win the Miss California USA beauty pageant. Beauty queens Mollie Thomas, 19, and Jenelle Hutcherson, 26, are two openly gay candidates who are hoping to score this year’s title of Miss California USA.
Hutcherson says she was invited by the Miss California pageant committee to compete in the pageant after participating in the Miss Long Beach competition.
“If I’d seen someone like myself up there maybe I wouldn’t have struggled with who I was for so long,” said Hutcherson in an statement to the International Business Times. She explained that she had initially declined the invitation but ultimately decided to enter due in part to a friend’s convincing.
Thomas hopes to reach the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community through the Miss California USA pageant.
According to the Huffington Post, Thomas does not recall a specific moment of coming out, but says her family has always been supportive and aware of her sexual orientation. “My family is so open and accepting that I knew very young who I was and who I loved,” said Thomas.
Both contestants will compete at the Miss California USA pageant this weekend in Palm Desert, Calif.
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