A transgender woman from Oregon is suing United States of America Pageants, alleging the corporation’s rule restricting competition to “natural born'' females is a form of gender-identity discrimination.

Anita Noelle Green of Clackamas holds the title of 2019 Miss Earth Elite Oregon and competed in the 2018 Miss Montana contest.

She applied to participate in the Miss United States of America pageant last year but her application was rejected.

“This policy, intentionally designed to exclude the specific class to which plaintiff belongs – transgender females – is discriminatory because it denied plaintiff the full and equal advantages and privileges of defendant's services in violation of Oregon's public accommodations law,’’ the lawsuit says.

The requirement that participants be a "natural born female'' has led to a federal gender discrimination lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Portland. (United States of America beauty pageant website)

The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland, alleges that a representative from the pageant directly “friended’’ Green on Facebook and encouraged Green via Facebook Messenger to participate in Oregon’s 2019 pageant. But once the pageant learned Green was transgender, it rejected her application.

Though the Nevada-based pageant corporation is a private business, the suit contends that the way it operates requires it to follow Oregon public accommodation law.

Green has participated in several pageants, saying it “affirms her identity as a woman,’’ contributes to her “sense of femininity and beauty,’’ helps boost her confidence and improve her public speaking and gives her a public forum to serve as an example to others, according to the suit.

In September 2017, Green was the first openly transgender contestant in the Miss Montana USA pageant and the third openly transgender contestant ever to compete in a Miss Universe pageant program.

Green is also the 2019 Oregon Miss Earth Elite titleholder and in June competed in the 2019 National Miss Earth Elite pageant in Las Vegas. The Miss Earth pageant, according to its website, offers a platform for women "to be a voice for environmental responsibility, while featuring these beauties for a cause in fashion, media and leadership opportunities.''

In 2012, the Miss Universe pageant ended its ban on transgender contestants. In 2018, Angela Ponce broke barriers in the 67th Miss Universe pageant becoming the first transgender woman to participate in the international competition as Miss Spain.

Green wrote in a 2017 SELF article that she first labeled herself as transgender at age 12 and started at 15 to save money for her transition. A graduate of University of Montana, she said she competed in Miss Montana pageant “to give my community a bigger platform.’’

The suit asks a judge to order United States of America Pageants to end its alleged discriminatory policy and remove its restriction that prevents transgender candidates from competing.

“Defendant’s ‘natural born female’ policy is not only unlawful, but it sends a hurtful and false message to transgender women that they are not women. Pageants that operate in Oregon must comply with Oregon law and may not discriminate on the basis of gender-identity,’’ said Green’s lawyer, Shenoa Payne. “We hope that Miss United States of America, LLC (pageants) follow other pageants, like the Miss Universe pageant, and take this opportunity to do the right thing and revoke their discriminatory ban on transgender women competing in their pageants.”

Messages left for the United States of America Pageants were not immediately returned.

Read the suit here.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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