Meet Miss Texas, biggest critic of US Supreme Court

Averie Bishop has not played the traditional ‘on the fence’ role of a pageant winner and hopes to enter politics.

Averie Bishop, 27, has spoken out against the Supreme Court decision overturning abortion rights. Picture: Washington Post/Getty Images/The Times

Earlier this year Republican politicians in the city of Austin received a visit from Miss Texas. The state legislature was about to pass a proclamation, commending Averie Bishop on her service as Miss Texas and her performance in the Miss America Competition, where she came third, and she wanted to speak to some of them.

If they imagined that this would merely involve a photograph and an assurance that they too were in favour of world peace, they were mistaken.

During her year-long reign as Miss Texas, Bishop has spoken out against the Supreme Court decision overturning abortion rights and against laws passed by her state’s very conservative legislature. She has waded into the most contentious political debates of the day.

In her view, even as Texas becomes more diverse the state legislature has been going “in the wrong direction, if not completely backwards”.

She hoped to raise a few points with her representatives. “I don’t think that’s something they expected,” she said. But “I thought it was a great opportunity … to say, ‘Hey, this is how I feel about this particular bill, SB17 being presented on the floor, these are my thoughts on gun reform, these are my thoughts on reproductive health.”

The SB17 bill would require universities in the state to close their diversity, equity and inclusion departments. One of these at Southern Methodist University “essentially helped me stay in college”, Bishop said.

In 2021 Texas in effect banned most abortions once a heart beat is detected, usually at about six weeks.

Bishop, 26, was crowned Miss Texas in June last year. Picture: The Washington Post/Getty Images/The Times

Bishop, 26, was crowned Miss Texas in June last year, becoming the first Asian-American to hold the title. She also became the first pageant winner in Texas, and perhaps in the nation, to be so forthright in using it as a platform for political advocacy.

In the past “there has been some pressure to play [sit on] the fence”, she said. But the Miss Texas organisation had been “hands off” in allowing her to post statements for her 800,000 followers on TikTok.

“I honestly think that because I have my law degree, they know that I’m not going to set anything on fire,” she said.

Bishop grew up in McKinney, on the fringes of Dallas. Her mother was a Filipino maid who got a job in a bank; her father, who is Cherokee, drove a bus.

Now that she has completed her term as Miss Texas, she has been invited to visit the White House, where she will raise a number of issues. She also has plans to run for office in Dallas.

The Times