with the assistance of a well-known attorney, a beauty queen questions pageant regulations that bar mothers from participating.

September 16, 2024 TruthUSA

A young beauty queen is challenging the regulations of the Miss America and Miss World pageants that she believes discriminate against mothers from participating.

Danielle Hazel, aged 25, had always aspired to take part in these competitions but was disheartened to discover that she is now ineligible due to her six-year-old son Zion, whom she had at the age of 19.

She has lodged a complaint with the New York Commission on Human Rights in an effort to overturn the rules, arguing that they unfairly exclude mothers from a significant platform due to their parental status.

Declarations about the complaint were made at the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park by Ms. Hazel, accompanied by renowned feminist lawyer Gloria Allred.

“According to the complaint filed by Danielle, this exclusion is degrading as it perpetuates the outdated belief that women cannot balance motherhood with beauty, grace, passion, talent, and philanthropy,” stated Ms. Allred, a lawyer famously associated with cases like the OJ Simpson trial.

“Parenting should not be seen as a hindrance, and no individual should face discrimination or embarrassment because they are parents,” she elaborated.

When Ms. Hazel discussed the rule with her son, he called it “stupid.”

“At just six years old, he recognizes the injustice and irrationality of this rule,” she shared.

Accompanying the two women was Veronika Didusenko, who won Miss Ukraine in 2018 but was disqualified when it was revealed she had a child.

Who is Gloria Allred?

Gloria Allred is an American lawyer recognized for taking on high-profile and controversial cases.

She is a founding member of the law firm Allred, Maroko & Goldberg (AM&G), which handles more women’s rights cases in the US than any other private firm.

Throughout her lengthy career, Ms. Allred has represented clients in lawsuits against various celebrities, including Tommy Lee, Sacha Baron Cohen, R Kelly, and Bill Cosby.

She also represented Nicole Brown Simpson’s family during the OJ Simpson murder trial in the 1990s.

A Netflix documentary on Ms. Allred premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018.

Ms. Didusenko, who is advocating for an end to bans on mothers in beauty pageants, lost her legal battle in Ukraine and is pursuing relief from the European Court of Human Rights.

Stuart Moskovitz, an attorney for the Miss America pageant, informed the New York Post that there is no ban on mothers, only on those with legal custody of their children.

The pageant’s website specifies that all applicants must meet certain criteria, including being a US citizen, female, single, without legal dependents, and meet residency requirements for the specific location of the competition.

“The restriction is in place only when necessary to safeguard the child’s well-being,” Mr. Moskovitz stated, asserting that Miss America’s commitments are demanding and could potentially jeopardize a child’s welfare, even with shared custody.

According to the Post, he mentioned that competing mothers might put their children at risk due to the pageant’s continuous activities.

Representatives for the Miss World pageant did not provide comments to the Associated Press inquiries.

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