Indiana’s Stephanie Sullivan spoke to the Daily Caller after becoming the first mother to win a state Miss USA title.
Sullivan, 33, said her faith is the foundation of what she does, and that she wants to show other women they can follow her path as a wife and mother. (RELATED: Former Miss USA Winner Noelia Voigt, Who Recently Resigned, Reveals Why She Gave Up Her Title)
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Sullivan said she believes she is the “breath of fresh air and this face of change that [Miss USA] needs right now,” referencing some PR troubles the organization has faced recently.
The former Miss USA Noelia Voigt, resigned her title in May over “physical and mental health” and alleged that the organization has a “toxic work environment.”
“Being a mom, birthing children, giving up everything to be everything for that child, you know, physically and mentally, it’s done nothing but challenge me, inspire to help me grow,” she said.
In 2022, it was announced that married women and mothers could compete in the Miss USA pageant, which is a feeder to Miss Universe. The organization was once owned by former President Donald Trump.
In 2023, the age limit was removed, allowing any woman to compete. The oldest a contestant could be before the limit was removed was 28. A 71 year old competed at Miss Texas USA over the weekend, according to USA Today.
Sullivan wants to specifically reach out to women, especially young women in churches and the community, by telling them her story to help them “figure out ways to take care of themselves.”
“When they grow up and decide, if they want to get married and have children and follow the same path that I did, they know how to pour into themselves and fill their own cup, so that they can be sustained in their energy and all everything that they have to give, so that they can pour into other people,” she continued.
Her husband is her “sounding board who can bring her back” to remind her of who she is, and her faith in Jesus Christ has been her foundation of everything she does.
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The Caller asked Sullivan about a recent competitor in Maryland, Bailey Anne Kennedy, who became the first trans individual to win the state title. Sullivan said Kennedy’s life choices are between them and God, and that she doesn’t judge people because that’s what the Bible teaches.
“Whether transsexual or transgendered, I think, especially as a woman of faith, this is just how I personally feel my experiences in life have led me to a point where I don’t judge others,” she said about Kennedy. “No matter what it is, if you’re lying, if you’re stealing, if you are changing your body, all sin, according to the Bible, is created equal.”
She added the Bible says not to “judge other people. So for me, I view every single person, every decision that people make as something that’s between them and God, and it’s not going to make me treat them any differently, or think any differently about them.”
If Sullivan wins the Miss USA competition, she will also become the first married woman and mother to hold the title. There were also two mothers who competed at Miss Universe in 2023, according to Business Insider.
