Beauty Queen Slams Miss America Over Trans Policy: 'They Can't Even Define What A Woman Is'

Beauty queen Kayleigh Bush didn't lose her crown for breaking a rule. She lost it, she says, because she refused to sign a new contract tied to Miss America's updated policies — including language she believes redefines what it means to be a woman.

Bush, who was crowned Miss North Florida in September 2024, was stripped of her title two months later after declining to sign a revised contract from the Miss America organization.

According to the updated eligibility rules, contestants must be women aged 18–28, unmarried, with no children, and U.S. citizens. In this case, "women" includes those born female or "an individual who has fully completed Sex Reassignment Surgery via Vaginoplasty (from male to female)."

Bush says that change is what prompted her to take a stand.

"I was asked to sign a contract that was different than the first one that I had agreed to because they had changed it four weeks after I rightly won," Bush told TMZ this week. "So I didn't lose my crown because I broke a rule. I lost the crown because I was unwilling to rewrite the truth."

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Bush said she and her mother immediately raised concerns.

"We got on a conference call immediately with one of the directors for the Miss America organization," the 19-year-old explained. "And weeks and weeks and weeks of pleading with them, sending videos, sending letters, emails, demand letters through Liberty Counsel — because they picked up my case — and they just said ‘no, no, no,’ and they doubled down."

When asked what specifically prompted her being stripped of her crown, Bush was direct.

"Declining to sign the contract. Because I couldn't agree that a little boy could mutilate his body and become a woman," she said.

A spokesperson for Miss America pushed back in a statement to TMZ, saying: "Miss America's position is grounded in uniform application of its rules, fairness to all contestants and adherence to nondiscrimination principles. The contract does not compel Ms. Bush to compromise her personal beliefs; it requires only that all contestants compete under the same standards and refrain from discriminatory conduct towards others."

Meanwhile, Bush said she received support from several public figures, including OutKick's Riley Gaines and actress Leigh-Allyn Baker. Still, the experience for her was devastating.

"It was heartbreaking. It was confusing. It was disappointing," she said. "Because Miss America has been honoring women for over 100 years, and now they can't even define what a woman is…

"I used to look up to Miss America because they empowered women, but now it's really disappointing to see that they've abandoned such a common-sense truth — that a man is a man and that a woman is a woman. I am disappointed in the Miss America organization, but I'm really hoping that they get back on track or return to truth."