Analouisa Valencia, an openly gay
African-American/Latina beauty queen, is competing for the Miss South
Carolina crown, an official preliminary to Miss America.
Valencia, 19, is currently Miss Lyman,
South Carolina.
In speaking with gay glossy The
Advocate, Valencia said she came out in the ninth grade.
“My teachers were okay with it,”
she said. “My mom at first said, 'Well, I don't support it, but I
love you so I'll support you.' She's okay with it now, but it's been
a couple of years. My dad at first was very, very, very furious. I
think it took a good three weeks to finally accept the fact that I
was just going to be who I was and be proud of it. Teachers were
very supportive.”
When asked about her girlfriend Tamyra,
Valencia said: “She just turned 20 last month, so I threw her a
great birthday party. She's really sweet, she's very supportive. We
used to not be [in] as good [a] place, but we are now. It took a lot
to get there, so we're doing a lot better. We've been together for
almost three years; we met when I was in high school in my senior
year and went to prom together.”
The Miss South Carolina contest takes
place in July.