An unlikely provocateur, Miss Texas, takes on the state's GOP leaders [View all]

What is startling is that Bishop has spoken out while competing for, and as, Miss Texas. The perch has normally been occupied by apolitical women, but in Bishop’s case, the pageant queen has used it to push back against the far-right policies supported by Texas’s White male leaders.

Her platform — diversity and inclusion — represents much of what Texas has been outlawing. In June alone, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed laws banning diversity offices and training at state universities, “sexually explicit” books at public schools, drag shows and gender-affirming care for youths.

The first Asian contestant to win the crown in the pageant’s 85 years, Bishop is an avatar for a rapidly diversifying state, one that despite its historic image is now majority minority, a change that is remaking cities, rural areas and political alliances, if not state leadership.

Bishop has done her share of lobbying them. In Austin, she met with Republican leaders to talk about the state’s needs. She pressed North Texas lawmakers against the bill to ban college diversity and inclusion programs, explaining how she had benefited from them.

The measure ultimately passed the Republican-controlled legislature along party lines, but Bishop still felt she made progress.
“To be seen, that’s the first step in making a lot of change,” she said.

For Bishop, being Miss Texas — a year-long role that ends Saturday — not only meant becoming a visual symbol for the state’s newest and least visible residents, but also having her legitimacy constantly challenged despite her rhinestone-studded crown and satiny white sash. Texans tell her they’re surprised she won, or that she can’t be Miss Texas because she’s not blond. Often, she said, older White Texans will ask, “Are you really Miss Texas?”




https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/30/averie-bishop-miss-america-texas-platform-diversity/