A pageant operator in the U.S. can ban transgender contestants, an appeals court in San Francisco ruled this week.
In a 2-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that United States of America Pageants (USOA) can continue to exclude trans women who want to compete in their pageants, in accordance with a rule that states that only “natural born” women qualify to compete.
The case made its way to court in late 2019 after Anita Green, an Oregon-born contestant, filed a lawsuit against Miss United States of America — which does business as USOA and has no connection to Miss USA — saying that she had been excluded from participating in the pageant because she’s transgender.
