At the time, Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles called the ruling a “travesty.” 
 
 On June 18, the first openly gay Miss Missouri was crowned. O’Flaherty, 23, was crowned as the Show Me State’s representative to the national pageant on Saturday, and is the first openly gay woman to hold the title, said Ann Jolly, chairman of the board of the Miss Missouri Scholarship Organization. "I'm on cloud nine really just to be Miss Missouri," she told the AP. I know that there might be people who probably really don't agree with it, but I'm just going to try to be the best Miss Missouri that I can be and show that [my sexuality] is only one part of me. Erin here, officially signing in as Miss MO 2016. So excited to serve this amazing state 💕 pic.twitter.com/MRlYYYLqsC — Miss Missouri (@MissAmericaMO) June 23, 2016 
 
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 The clothing store owner, whose pageant platform is suicide prevention, also told the AP that she hopes to reach out to the LGBT community during her time as Miss Missouri, but added that it won’t be the only focus of her reign. What I’m going to try to do this year is open up people’s eyes and minds a little bit.” 
 
 She also said that she knows it will be hard, since Missouri isn’t exactly known for being progressive. I do think it is a big deal to come into Miss America being open, because the visibility for the LGBT community is what we need right now. But also there will be many appearances that I do that have nothing to do with that.” 
 
 
 
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 O’Flaherty believes she will also be the first openly gay woman to compete in this fall’s Miss America pageant, which is scheduled for Sept. 11 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
– Missouri has its first openly gay Miss Missouri, and she will represent the state at the Miss America pageant later this year, the AP reports. Erin O'Flaherty, 23, was crowned Miss Missouri on Saturday in Mexico, Missouri, and is the first openly gay woman to be named Miss Missouri, said Ann Jolly, chairman of the board of the Miss Missouri Scholarship Organization. O'Flaherty said Wednesday in a telephone interview with the AP that she came out as gay when she was 18, competed openly, and knew going into the Miss Missouri pageant that she'd be making history if she won. "I'm on cloud nine really just to be Miss Missouri," she said. "I don't know that I intended to be the first, but I am. So I'm very excited about it." O'Flaherty believes she also will be the first openly gay woman to compete in the Miss America scholarship pageant, which is scheduled for Sept. 11 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A spokeswoman for the Miss America pageant didn't immediately return a call from the AP seeking comment Wednesday, but many other outlets including Mediaite, the New York Daily News, Us magazine, Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Tonight, the Huffington Post, and others say she will be the first openly gay Miss America contestant. O'Flaherty, who is from South Carolina, said her platform is suicide prevention. While she hopes to reach out to the gay community, she said that will not be the sole focus of her reign as Miss Missouri. "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 says.