Erin O’Flaherty crowned Miss Missouri; makes history by being the first Miss America openly gay contestant

US: A 23 year old beauty queen, Erin O'Flaherty from Missouri has made history by being the first openly gay contestant to compete in the Miss America pageant as she was crowned Miss Missouri on Tuesday making her the first openly lesbian Miss America candidate in the 95 year history of the pageant.

O’Flaherty who came out as gay at 18, and competed openly said she knew there was a chance she could be make history with her win.

“I’m on cloud nine really just to be Miss Missouri,” she told the AP. “I don’t know that I intended to be the first, but I am. So I’m very excited about it.”

In her first official tweet from the Miss Missouri Twitter account on Wednesday, she said;

 “Hey there! Erin here, officially signing in as Miss MO 2016. So excited to serve this amazing state.”

O'Flaherty also pledge to reach out to the LGBT community during her reign as Miss Missouri, adding that she wont make it her only focus during her reign.

“My focus of my year isn’t going to be that I’m gay,” O’Flaherty explained. “It’s certainly a big part of who I am, and I will be promoting it and raising awareness for the LGBT community. But also there will be many appearances that I do that have nothing to do with that.”

O’Flaherty thinks she will be the first openly gay woman to participate in this fall’s Miss America pageant, scheduled to hold on Sept. 11 in New Jersey.

“I’m hoping that I can strike a really nice balance of staying true to the values of Miss Missouri and also being able to exercise my personal views,” she said.