PORTLAND, OR – The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a female-only beauty pageant organization is protected under its First Amendment rights and cannot be forced to include biological male contestants.
In Green v. Miss United States of America, a male, who identifies as Anita Green, sued the pageant in 2019 when his application into the pageant was denied based on gender identity. Green’s lawsuit, which was filed in Oregon, said the pageant “committed an intentional act of discrimination by adopting an express discriminatory policy” and that the pageant’s “natural born female” eligibility requirement violates the Oregon Public Accommodations Act.
