Miss USA to Feature First Openly Bisexual Contestant

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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.

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Hey Utah, we’re going to Miss USA! 🌈👑😍 HMU and Photo by @mr.austinryde

A post shared by Rachel Slawson (@saltyrachel) on Jan 20, 2020 at 1:42pm PST

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.”

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Let’s just get straight to the point: 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. 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. 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. If you are in crisis, please text TALK to 741741, and remember you are always worthy of help, and you are worthy of your biggest dream. Your new Miss Utah USA 2020. 💗

A post shared by Rachel Slawson (@saltyrachel) on Jan 18, 2020 at 9:56pm PST

“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.