Key Points
NEW YORK A New York woman is challenging the longstanding rules of Miss America and Miss World that disqualify mothers from their beauty pageants.ts..
When I told Zion, who is now 6 years old, about these rules he had an immediate gut reaction: he said that these rules are stupid, she said, speaking at the Womens Rights Pioneers Monument in New Yorks Central Park..
Hazels lawyer, Gloria Allred, said a complaint sent Monday to the citys Commission on Human Rights seeks an end to the requirements because they deny and exclude mothers from an important business and cultural opportunity simply because of their status as parents..
Allred noted that she previously had success challenging a similar rule for a California mother denied eligibility to compete in the Miss California pageant, which is part of the Miss Universe and Miss USA organizations..
The discrimination complaint filed by Andrea Quiroga with the California Civil Rights Department prompted Miss Universe to eliminate its 70-year-old rule, which was imposed worldwide through its affiliated organizations, Allred said..
