Miss San Francisco could make history in Miss California pageant

SCREEN CAPTURE / MONROE LACE

Monroe Lace was crowned Miss San Francisco on June 9.

Monroe Lace, the current Miss San Francisco, could make history this week in the Miss California competition. If crowned, the Asian American could become the first openly transgender titleholder in the pageant.

Lace, 25, was named Miss San Francisco earlier this month. She is the first transgender local winner the organization's 99-year history.

“I feel like my job as Miss San Francisco is to show people that I'm just like everyone else,” Lace told the San Francisco Standard.

The winner of Miss California will go on to represent the state in the Miss America contest.

Lace said she had to overcome her fears about entering the Miss San Francisco competition as a trans woman.

"I told myself if it wasn't going to be me, then who? And if not now, then when?" she told the Bay Area Reporter. "So I just went in being my whole authentic self and I won."

Lace grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area of Chinese and Filipino parents. She left home in 2019 because of their unwillingness to accept her gender.

"I would rather be homeless and loved than be in a home that didn't love me. So I packed my belongings in a single suitcase and left in the middle of night," she told the Bay Area Reporter.

The organizers of this year's pageant, which will be held in Visalia, an agricultural city in the state's conservative Central Valley. The winner will be crowned July 1, but in the meantime, Californians will be able to vote for the contestant for the Peoples Choice award.

In 2021, Lace was assaulted at gunpoint in San Francisco. "I think after my sexual assault I knew that service was important and something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I felt becoming Miss San Francisco was an opportunity for me to give back to the city that has welcomed me with open arms."

Indeed, she has made public safety a key part of her platform. “My platform is public safety. It’s not ‘police,’” Lace told the Standard. “It’s about awareness, talking about my own assault; it’s about education and legislation.”

"My platform is all about supporting survivors and rape victims through education, legislation, and awareness," she told the Standard. "I hope to use my year of service to share my personal story, teach children about good character and about being their most authentic selves and advocate for legislation that keeps the city and state safe."

If Lace wins the $20,000 scholarship offered by the contest, she said she would like to attend law school.

“I'm here to show America that I am just like everyone else and that, in fact, I am a role model in the community,” Lace said. “I hope, through my actions as a San Francisco, I can help change the narrative and the story of what people see trans people as.”

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