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Former Miss Kentucky Djuan Trent made history this week. The beauty queen, who also finished in the top 10 of the Miss America competition in 2011, announced that she’s a lesbian, becoming the first national pageant contestant to come out of the closet.

Trent shared the news in a lengthy blog post titled “Turning ‘They’ into ‘We.’

“I have written and re-written and deleted and restarted this post more times than I care to share,” she wrote, “and after all of that I have finally realized: ‘There ain’t nothin’ to it, but to do it.’ So, here we go folks …”

“I am queer,” she announced.

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She went on to detail her identity crisis she’s battle since the 4th grade.

“I could write about what it was like to come out to my mom for the third and final time at the age of 26 (the first time was when I was in the 4th grade and the second time was in college). I could write about the years I spent praying to a God whom I wanted so badly to serve with all of my heart, but couldn’t understand why this God made me “wrong”. I could write about all the times that people have asked me if I have a boyfriend and I’ve purposely chosen to just say “no” with no further explanation. I could write about all the reasons I have been told I shouldn’t be gay (that’s an interesting list). I could write about all the times I talked about how gross it was when a girl had a crush on me, even though I may have secretly liked her too. I could write about how scared I have felt that I would have to watch friends and family members walk out of my life if I ever decided to come out. I could write about how disappointed I have been in myself for being an open supporter by day, and living it up in the safety of the closet by night.”

The 27-year-old added that Kentucky’s current battle over gay marriage made her decision to come out more of a struggle.

“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 in which their heterosexual counterparts [that] are so happily welcomed partake, unless you open your mouth and say it,” she wrote.

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In conclusion, Trent thanked all of her friends and fans for their unyielding support. “Thank you for giving me the courage to change my “they” to “we”, “them” to “us”, and “their” to “our.” You have given me the courage to speak up and speak out when I forget my “QUEER” stamp in the mornings,” she said. “And I can only hope, that I might inspire someone else in that same way.”

In a follow-up post, she added: “My heart is warmed from the overwhelmingly positive and encouraging words.”

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Beauty Queen Djuan Trent Becomes 1st National Pageant Contestant To Come Out The Closet  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com