Overview
- Kayleigh Bush says she refused to sign a revised Miss America contract that broadened eligibility to include post-operative transgender women and that she was stripped of her Miss North Florida crown.
- Miss America disputes her claim, stating she kept the crown but could not proceed because she did not sign the same agreement other contestants accepted.
- Updated rules define eligible contestants as female, specifying either those born female or individuals who have fully completed sex reassignment surgery, alongside existing age, marital status, and citizenship requirements.
- Bush says the language changed about four weeks after her September 2024 win and that she and Liberty Counsel pressed the organization through calls, letters, and emails before she declined to sign.
- Conservative figures publicly backed Bush, and She Leads America honored her with a separate title, while the dispute continues in media coverage with no reported legal resolution.