Courtesy of Anita Green

Anita Green, 26, will compete in this weekend's Miss Montana USA pageant, the first openly trans woman to do so in the state (and one of the first in the country as a whole). Green is a University of Montana alumna and currently works for an organization that supports people with developmental disabilities. She also made state history last year by becoming the first openly transgender person to be elected as a delegate to a nominating convention. A pageant newbie, Green hopes her presence in the competition will inspire other trans women — and she's planning to win for them too.

I have never competed in a pageant before — I had been thinking about it for a couple of years now but I wasn't sure if I necessarily had what it took to compete. I hadn’t felt confident in myself before but I do now. I began surrounding myself with more positive people in my life — people who believed in me, people who knew I could do this.

"If I am selected as Miss Montana USA, I am going to be representing my state and that's something that I don't take lightly."

I thought it would be fun too; I have never gotten glammed up so much before! My makeup experience has been very limited, so I have been watching a lot of YouTube tutorials on how to do my hair and whatnot. I've never gotten on stage in a bathing suit before either and that's really exciting. But I am taking the pageant very seriously — if I am selected as Miss Montana USA, I am going to be representing my state and that's something that I don't take lightly.

For me, it was very difficult growing up as a trans woman. For the longest time, I didn't understand that I even was transgender — that's not something that was talked about in the '90s. For the longest time, I thought that I was just gay because I knew that I was attracted to men, but then, as I got older, I discovered that I indeed was and am a transgender woman. I didn't have a lot of resources growing up to help me with my gender dysphoria so it was difficult; I was suffering from clinical depression because I was living a lie for a good portion of my life and I became depressed because of that. I think I was 17 when I first came out as transgender. I came out to my best friend in high school and I told her I was a girl. At 18, I started hormone replacement therapy, and I was in therapy to deal with my gender dysphoria, and I started living full-time as me, as Anita, the woman that I am, at 19.

Of course I'm a little bit nervous [about the pageant]. I think that all of the contestants are a little bit nervous. I hope that I'm prepared and ready. I think I am. I've been practicing a lot in heels; I've worn heels more in the past few months than I have in my entire life. I would describe my pageant runway walk as being on par with Sandra Bullock's character from Miss Congeniality. I was struggling at first but with a lot — and I mean a lot — of practice, I'm ready to show off on stage! I have also been working out a lot. I've actually lost about 50 pounds [in the] last year with diet and exercise, and it's been a lot of work — [but even] making small changes like cutting out soda is a good start. I think that this pageant has been very good for me in that respect. It's helped encourage me to be healthier, and I'm seeing results, and I'm really liking them.

Courtesy of Anita Green

And I have a message that I want the public to hear. I think that the Miss Universe Organization gives women an opportunity to have their voices heard; they’re encouraging a diverse group of woman to [get involved in pageants] and I think that's great. I want to make some progress for the transgender community because a lot of progress needs to be made. And I wanted to be a source of inspiration; I wanted to give the transgender community something positive — some positive news. That's why I'm here.

"All the contestants that I have met so far have all been very accepting of me. I was pleasantly surprised!"

My friends were very excited for me and have been giving me a lot of advice; I've been working with a pageant coach too, Michelle Font, a former Miss Washington USA. My partner has been super supportive of me every step of the way. I think my mom was a little bit hesitant at first; I'm not entirely sure why, but I think that she was maybe afraid that people would make fun of me or harass me because I'm really putting myself out there. But she’s always wanted me to do my best and it didn't take her long to come around.

All the contestants that I have met so far have all been very accepting of me. I was pleasantly surprised! I live in Montana after all, which is a rural, conservative state. As for any haters talking about me, I really don't care at this point. I mean, some people are always going to bash others. I think that it's just important to compete as best I can and hold my head up high [while doing so] and hopefully others will see that. I don't know if my story will add [a new] perspective for people who aren’t accepting of [the trans community] or if they're going to continue to essentially be bigots, but I'm hopeful that I can change some minds, and I hope that people can see that what I'm doing is a positive thing.

I'm very open about my identity at this point. [For the Miss Montana USA pageant,] I put that [I am a trans woman] in my contestant biography and I'm sure most of the contestants, if not all of them, have read over everybody else's bio. And during rehearsals, we all had to mention one interesting fact about ourselves and I mentioned that I was elected as Montana's first openly transgender national delegate [for the 2016 Democratic National Convention] and everyone, within the Miss category and the Miss Teen category, clapped for me.

[Going to the Democratic National Convention] was very exciting. It was also very stressful. I don't know if the DNC has seen such a controversial election. A lot of people felt that Bernie Sanders wasn't treated fairly and there were a lot of protests happening at the DNC. And in some ways, it was good because I think that it encouraged a lot more people to be involved in the political process. I wasn't expecting everyone to be getting so riled up, but they were — and I was upset as well. I mean, Bernie Sanders was the person I wanted to be president of the United States.

Courtesy of Anita Green

I like to consider myself an educator. I think it's important to educate people and I understand that people sometimes have some questions — they genuinely want to learn and I [see myself] as here to help. Now, some of the questions are invasive, but I’m happy to explain what is appropriate to ask somebody and what isn't. I really just want to inform people about what it means to be transgender and, like I said, I think that we have a lot of issues within the transgender community that need to be addressed: I think that there should be federal laws making it illegal to discriminate against people based upon their perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression [in terms of] access to employment and housing. Currently, in many places, it is legal to discriminate against people based on [those factors] and I think that that is egregious. I also think that transgender people shouldn't be required to undergo gender confirmation surgery in order to change the gender marker on their birth certificate, and the reason that I think that that needs to change on a federal level is because not every trans person can afford gender confirmation surgery, nor does every trans person want to have surgery!

"I know that it's not easy being transgender but I think it's so important to be true to yourself because in the end, you are the one who's going to make you happy."

My platform involves fighting for the LGBTQI community, specifically for the transgender community because I think that the best person to be a spokesperson for any community is someone who is actually a part of it — it's most appropriate for me to be speaking on behalf of the transgender community because I am transgender. I understand the struggles that members of the transgender community face. I know that it's not easy being transgender but I think it's so important to be true to yourself because in the end, you are the one who's going to make you happy. And the best way we can learn to fight for minority rights is by listening to members of said minority communities; it’s important to let minority communities voice themselves and allow them the space to do so.

The Miss Montana USA competition takes place in Missoula, Montana, on Sept. 9 and 10. A public vote will propel one contestant through to the top 11 semi-finals round — click through to have your say. Anita's pitch: "I would encourage the public to vote for me because they would be taking an active role in making history. There has never been an open transgender woman to win a state title within the United States. I would be honored to be the first!"

Alex Rees Deputy Editor of News I’m the news director here at Cosmopolitan.com, and I could really use a cup of tea right now.

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