Former Miss Kentucky: 'I Am Queer'

A former Miss Kentucky has come out as gay in a blog post responding to last month’s court ruling against the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

“I am queer,” wrote Djuan Trent on in a recent post on her blog, Life in 27. She then reported hearing many antigay comments in the wake of the federal judge’s ruling. “What has prompted my writing today has been my questioning people’s constant assumption that a) I am hetero and b) I concur with their views,” she said.

It’s obvious to people who meet her that she’s black and a woman, she commented, “but sometimes, I forget to put the ‘QUEER’ stamp on my forehead on my way out the door in the mornings. So, on the mornings that I forget my stamp, I have realized that there is really no way for people to know that I disagree with their views or, even more so, to know that they are talking about me, unless I actually open my mouth and say it.”

She went on, “Ideally, I would love to one day live in a society where coming out is no longer necessary because we don’t make assumptions about one another’s sexuality and homophobia is laid to rest.” But society is not there yet, so she calls on others to make their presence known: “People can’t know that their best friend, brother, sister, co-worker, neighbor, news anchor, favorite singer, or local coffee shop barista is being oppressed and denied the rights [of] their heterosexual counterparts … unless you open your mouth and say it.”

Trent was Miss Kentucky 2010 and finished in the top 10 in the following year’s Miss America pageant.

U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn ruled February 12 that Kentucky’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution. However, his ruling has not gone into effect yet, so same-sex couples cannot legally marry in Kentucky, nor does the state recognize same-sex unions performed elsewhere.