Erin O'Flaherty

In 2013, she was crowned Miss University of Central Florida.[3] While there, she was an ambassador for Children's Miracle Network.[4] She took a couple years off from pageant competition, however, wanted to compete before she surpassed the age eligibility.[5] In 2016, she was crowned Miss Missouri in the Miss America pageant. Also in 2016, she became the first openly lesbian contestant to compete in Miss America.[2] Her platform is suicide prevention, a cause close to her heart from losing her best friend to suicide and experiencing her first funeral at the age of 13.[6] As an advocate for suicide prevention, she works with The Trevor Project, a hotline for LGBT youth, and The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.[7] Her talent is a vocal performance.[8]

Erin O'Flaherty is originally from Florence, South Carolina.[8] O'Flaherty came out as gay when she was 18.[1] She decided to attend the University of Central Florida, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in accounting.[6] During an interview at UCF, O'Flaherty's dream job was to be a cashier as a child. She loved balancing her grandmother's checkbook every Sunday and was fascinated with the transaction process. As her strength for rules, organization, and numbers increased with her entrepreneurial drive, her dream of owning or operating a small business was created.[4] She currently lives in Chesterfield, Missouri as an owner of a boutique called Rachel's Grove.[8] She enjoys world traveling, kayaking to see wildlife in Wekiwa Springs, and playing soccer. She also enjoys singing, which contributes to her talent in pageants.[4]

In 2018, a short documentary was made about her life story called "Crowning Change" that premiered to audiences at film festivals around the world.[9][10][11]

• Djuan Trent