Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules transgender women can be banned from beauty pageant
A ruling last week by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld that beauty pageant organizers can ban transgender women from entering their competition. The 2 – 1 ruling in Green v. Miss United States of America, LLC, 21-35228 upheld a lower court decision.
The plaintiff was Ms. Anita Noelle Green. Born a male, Ms. Green had a sex change operation and competed in 2019 in the Miss Montana contest.
She also competed and won the Miss Elite Earth Oregon pageant. With that victory, she applied to compete in Miss United States of America. The organizers returned her $195 entry fee when they learned she was transgender.
“We conclude that the district court was correct to grant the Pageant’s motion for summary judgment, but reach this conclusion not under the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of association but rather under the First Amendment’s protection against compelled speech,” wrote Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke.
The plaintiff sought relief under the Oregon Public Accommodations Act.
U.S. Judge Michael W. Mosman of the District of Oregon, in denying the suit, wrote, “the forced inclusion of Ms. Green would significantly affect Miss USA’s ability to advocate its viewpoints on female identity and womanhood, which is the core expressive purpose of its pageants.”
