Miss America, Miss World pageants challenged over rules banning mothers

Danielle Hazel, left, speaks during a news conference accompanied by her attorney Gloria Allred, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Joe Frederick)

NEW YORK — 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, Sept. 16, 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 6 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. “His sense of fairness at only 6 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.

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.

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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 organizations.

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.”

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 organization 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.