All of these efforts started a couple of years before I even became Miss Texas. I got to work with companies or nonprofits like Planned Parenthood, and use my platform on social media to combine my advocacy and have a larger reach. My honors fellowship was fighting for access to comprehensive sexual education here in Texas. To study and have that major in Dallas, Texas, of all places, was already an act of advocacy - fighting for the protection of marginalized communities.ĭuring that time, I found my voice through my diversity and inclusion department at SMU, as well as my human rights family. In undergrad, at Southern Methodist University, I was a human rights major, which is probably the most liberal degree you can get on the face of the planet. How have you used your platform to speak out?ĪB: A lot of my work and advocacy occurred before I even won the sash and crown. TV : In the past year, while you've been Miss Texas, the government has passed bills limiting diversity and inclusion offices on college campuses and continued its antiabortion crusade. Often there's a lack of that among minority communities like mine and not-so-majority white communities now. A lot of my efforts are to advocate - especially as the composition of our communities continues to change in the Lone Star State - so that people can have conversations with people from different communities. To be a Texan is to truly stand your ground for what you believe in, but also to have the humility and skills to find common ground with anybody. We're now a majority-minority state, and I've had the honor of living here and getting to see that change myself, through my own eyes. Especially as a young woman of color, what does being a proud Texan mean to you?Īverie Bishop: I think of the perception of Texans as independent, stubborn white men in chaps and cowboy boots who are unwilling to listen and learn from other communities and people, but Texas is changing very quickly - it’s changed a lot in the past five years. Teen Vogue : People often have a narrow view of what it means to be a Texan. As part of her platform “Y’all Means All,” she has traveled to schools statewide, promoting diversity initiatives and encouraging compassion across communities - something, she notes, Texas lawmakers could learn a little something about. When the legislature sought to ban diversity, equity, and inclusion offices on public college campuses, she went to the Texas Capitol to talk with representatives about the importance of diversity in curricula. Though she represents the Lone Star State, Bishop is not afraid to speak out against the regressive policies Texas has implemented recently. She won the Miss Texas America title in 2022 - becoming the first Asian American woman to wear that sash and gown - and has since dedicated the past year to redefining the ideas people have about Texas and transforming beauty pageants into platforms for social activism. As a law school graduate who hails from McKinney, Texas, she looked to pageants as a way to pay back her loans. Student debt brought Averie Bishop to the world of beauty pageants.
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