Allowing ‘gender-confused males’? Miss America organization warned it may be violating law with deceptive advertising
The Miss America organization has been warned, by letter from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier that it could be found to be violating the state’s deceptive advertising law by promoting a competition for women, and then “surreptitiously allowing certain men to compete.”
That action, of course, falls into alignment with the anti-science transgender ideology that is so pervasive these days, after Joe Biden spent four years in the White House promoting those beliefs as a top priority.
It is Mat Staver, the chief of Liberty Counsel which has fought numerous courtroom battles over the agenda, who said, “Both Miss America and Miss Florida organizations advertise their competitions are for women. Allowing gender-confused males is deceptive and misleading. After Kayleigh Bush won her crown, she was told to sign a contract that included male under the definition of female. Kayleigh Bush chose courage over the crown and refused to accept the lie that boys can become girls. In doing so, she lost the ability to compete in Miss Florida and could not fully enjoy the benefits of her title. This harmful gender ideology must end, and it has no place anywhere, especially in women’s pageants.”
Liberty Counsel has been involved in Bush’s fight over the pageant decision to force the transgender beliefs on her, and punish her when she refused to believe that men, whose maleness in embedded in their bodies down to the DNA level and cannot change, can suddenly be “women.”
Liberty Counsel cited the letter to pageant officials Robin Fleming and Keith Williams from Uthmeier to the Miss America Organization and Miss Florida Scholarship Program.
Uthmeier noted that nothing in Miss America’s public-facing representations defined “girls,” “women,” or “female” as anything other than biological females, nor was there any indication that a “subset of males” would be allowed to compete until the private contract was presented, Liberty Counsel explained.
¡ESCÁNDALO EN FLORIDA!
La Fiscal General de Florida, James Uthmeier, lanza una advertencia directa: Miss America y Miss Florida podrían estar violando la ley estatal al anunciar sus concursos como “solo para mujeres” mientras obligan a las participantes a competir contra… pic.twitter.com/ufclys2LUw
— Jhonf Fonseca (@Jhonffonseca) April 10, 2026
In the pageant’s attack on Bush, it was only in that “private” contract that she was ordered to accept a redefined “female,” to including men who say they are women.
“Consequently, by promoting their competitions as female-only and the surreptitiously allowing certain men to compete, Miss America and Miss Florida are engaging in a wrongful bait-and-switch advertising scheme targeting young women,” charged Uthmeier. “These organizations cannot operate under the false and misleading title of ‘Miss’ if indeed they are open to male participants.”
The “bait-and-switch” scheme may, in fact, be in violation of the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, he said.
He said the groups now have until May 1 to adopt “corrective” measures so that the public knows whether the events are for women, or men and women.
Liberty Counsel explained the letter was triggered by pageant officials’ attempts to force Bush to sign a contract that falsely defines “female” to include men.
She was crowned in September 2025 but was denied the benefits of her regional title after she objected to the pageant decision to define men as women.
That legal document, in fact, demands: “The Applicant must be a Female. ‘Female’ means a born female or an individual who has fully completed Sex Reassignment Surgery via Vaginoplasty (from male to female) with supporting medical documentation and records. Supporting medical documentation must be in the form of the certification attached, signed by the surgeon who performed the surgery and notarized, along with a copy of board certification and a current medical license…”
The letter notes the pageant decision that “stripped Kayleigh Bush of her title as Miss North Florida 2025, as well as her scholarship.”
He said the pageant officials were “misrepresenting” their competitions.
And that, the attorney general said, could be seen as violating state law which bans “unfair methods of competition, unconscionable acts or practices, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce.”
An “advertisement is considered deceptive if it has the capacity to convey misleading impressions to consumers even though nonmisleading interpretations may be possible,” he warned.
He said the pageants deliberately concealed their agenda, with online statements including, “It’s the nation’s most iconic platform for women to rise, lead, and inspire.”
He said the groups cannot be allowed to operate “under the false and misleading title of ‘Miss’ if indeed they are open to male participants.”