She’s like the anti-Carrie Prejean. I’ve never liked beauty pageants and am certain I never will, but I’m rooting for Miss New York to win the title for Miss America next year.

Claire Buffie won the competition for Miss New York this summer, with her platform being gay rights. Below is a recent interview where she discusses what she’s looking to achieve.

I particularly appreciate her drive to focus attention on bullying, cyberbullying and suicide among LGBT youth. She said to the Advocate in an interview, “People may think of marriage equality, but actually, gay rights is a platform for so many more issues.”

Again, let’s not forget beauty pageants have their own evils, like perpetuating harmful social beauty standards that ...