New Miss USA is Army officer; trans contestant not in top 20

FPI / August 6, 2024

U.S. Army officer Alma Cooper of Michigan was crowned Miss USA on Sunday.

Cooper became the third woman to take the crown this year following the shock resignation of 2023’s winner.

ABC 7 Chicago reports the 22-year-old, who has a Master’s in data science from Stanford University, beat 50 other contestants from across the nation in a pageant that included swimwear and evening gown competitions.

Included in the competition was Bailey Anne Kennedy of Maryland, a biological male who was in the contest as a trans woman. Kennedy finished outside the top 20 in the national competition.

Cooper was crowned on stage by previous titleholder Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii, who inherited the tiara in May after Utah’s Noelia Voigt stepped down.

“As the daughter of a migrant worker, a proud Afro Latina woman and an officer of the United States Army, I am living the American dream,” Cooper told judges during a Q&A session at Sunday’s finale. “If there’s anything that my life and my mother have taught me, it’s that your circumstances never define your destiny: You can make success accessible through demanding excellence.”

Kentucky’s Connor Perry and Oklahoma’s Danika Christopherson were named first and second runners up, respectively.

The winner of the Miss USA pageant now goes on to compete in Miss Universe, which is set for Sept. 28 in Mexico.

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