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The Miss USA pageant will feature its first openly bisexual contestant in its 70 year history, when Miss Utah competes this spring.
Twenty-five-year-old Rachel Slawson made history when she was crowned Miss Utah on Saturday, revealing on Instagram the struggles she went through before realizing the “biggest dream of my life.”
“The last time I tried to end my life I was 19 years old, and it was the night I lost Miss Utah USA. “Why wasn’t I enough?” This is my 7th pageant, my 5th time competing at Miss Utah USA, and tonight I finally experienced hands down the biggest dream of my life,” Slawson candidly told fans.
“After a few trips to the psych ward, being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder (the reason I had such an extreme reaction to losing a pageant) and finally coming to terms with who I am as a queer woman,” Slawson shared. “And the only difference between tonight, and the night I left broken hearted wishing I wasn’t alive, is that I knew I was enough before I arrived.”
“I am so grateful for this crown. And I promise to do right by Utah and spend this year sharing my truth. But if I’m being honest with you, this crown is a new job, not an answer to the question I spent the last 9 years asking. “Why am I even here?” I am why,” Slawson bravely promised fans, before sharing details of a crisis hotline.
According to People, Slawson ‘came out’ in 2019, revealing in an earlier Instagram post she had long put off coming out because she didn’t want to be known as “that ‘bi’ girl.”
“But when I hear how much hatred still lives in the world, towards people with different sexualities, mental health issues, or a confusion between the two, I have to speak up,” Slawson revealed.
