Miss Texas has a message for Texas' Republican governor

AVERIE BISHOP

Averie Bishop used her Miss Texas platform to advocate for diversity and inclusion.

After giving up her crown as Miss Texas, it didn't take long for the Filipino American beauty queen Averie Bishop took her first steps into the political arena by criticizing Texas' conservative  leaders.

Days after crowning her successor, Ellie Breaux as Miss Texas 2023, Bishop aimed her message of diversity right at Texas Governor Greg Abbott who has campaigned against communities of color and through the Republican-controlled state legislature, make it harder for voters to cast their ballots.

In an opinion article published by MSNBC, Bishop wrote: "I also know that if our politicians continue to shut out, ignore and oppress marginalized and minority Texans, the state will never become the socio-economic and political powerhouse it wants to become."

During Bishop's  reign as Miss Texas last year, she consistently pushed her platform, "Y’all Means All” in all her appearances.

She was the first Asian American to win the title in the 85-year history of this scholarship competition. The winner represented the Lone Star state in the Miss America scholarship competition.

As a college student at Southern Methodist University, she saw the demographic changes in Texas as it became a majority-minority state, where no one ethnic group was in the majority. "I started seeing a new side of my state, a Texas that is home to one of the country’s largest South Asian communities, a thriving Black music industry, generations of Latinx and Chicano cultures, and some of the best Vietnamese food this side of the Pacific." she continued.

"And yet, so many of the leaders of my state are living in denial. Rather than celebrating this diversity and the ways it makes us stronger, they are trying to smother it."

During her year as Miss Texas she has spoken on race, abortion, immigration, voting, same-sex marriage, school shootings and comprehensive sex education, all of which leaned progressive and against the views of the Republican lawmakers, including Abbott.

In June as Bishop was preparing to end her year as Miss Texas, Abbott signed laws banning diversity offices and training at state universities, “sexually explicit” books at public schools, drag shows and gender-affirming care for youths.

In a recent article published in the Washington Post, Bishop, who graduated from Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University, school plans to join a law office to launch her career. At some point, Bishop told the Post, she might run for elective office.

In her MSNBC oped, the 27-year old Bishop concluded: "I became Miss Texas to advocate for the people of color, immigrants and LGTBQ people who hold up every community from Galveston to Waco. Now more than ever, it is crucial to hold our leaders and institutions accountable. And I think most Texans agree with me."

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