Beauty queen challenges Miss America, Miss World rules banning mothers from pageants
By AP|
A New York woman is challenging the longstanding rules of Miss America and Miss World that disqualify mothers from their beauty pageants.
Danielle Hazel said Monday that she's always dreamed of entering the competitions but was devastated to learn that she's no longer eligible because she had a son when she was just 19 years old.
"When I told Zion, who is now six years old, about these rules he had an immediate gut reaction: he said that these rules are stupid," she said, speaking at the Women's Rights Pioneers Monument in New York's Central Park.
READ MORE: Why Katy Perry doesn't use her real name
"His sense of fairness at only six years old tells him that this is unjust and makes no sense."
Hazel's lawyer, Gloria Allred, said a complaint sent Monday to the city's Commission on Human Rights seeks an end to the requirements because they deny and exclude mothers from an "important business and cultural opportunity" simply because of their status as parents.
"As we stated in Danielle's filed complaint, this exclusion is degrading to Danielle as it is based upon the antiquated stereotype that women cannot be both a mother and be beautiful, poised, passionate, talented and philanthropic," Allred said.
READ MORE: 'We love you Pops': Tito Jackson's sons share heartbreaking tribute
Spokespersons for the Miss America and Miss World pageant organizations didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment Monday.
A spokesperson for the human rights commission said the agency does not comment on open investigations.
Allred noted that she previously had success challenging a similar rule for a California mother denied eligibility to compete in the Miss California pageant, which is part of the Miss Universe and Miss USA organisations.
The discrimination complaint filed by Andrea Quiroga with the California Civil Rights Department prompted Miss Universe to eliminate its 70-year-old rule, which was imposed worldwide through its affiliated organizations, Allred said.
"Being pregnant or being a parent is not a crime and should not exclude an individual from employment or business opportunities," Allred said. "An individual's status as a parent should not carry a stigma and no person should have to feel embarrassed, humiliated, or degraded because they have become a parent."
For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.
The two women were joined Monday by Veronika Didusenko, who was crowned Miss Ukraine 2018 only to have the title stripped when the Miss World organization learned that she had a child.
Didusenko, who has since created an organisation advocating for an end to beauty pageant bans on mothers, said she lost her legal challenge in Ukraine but is seeking relief from the European Court of Human Rights.
FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.
