Averie Bishop

Last updated
Averie Bishop
Born
McKinney, Texas, U.S.
Education Southern Methodist University (BA, JD)
Title Miss Texas (2022)
Political party Democratic
Website Official website

Averie Bishop is an American attorney and social activist who is the first Asian American woman to be crowned Miss Texas. Her work focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and she co-founded a nonprofit supporting educational access for underserved communities. She was the second-runner up at Miss America 2023.

Contents

Early life and education

Bishop was born in McKinney, Texas. [1] Her mother, a Filipina immigrant from Banga, South Cotabato, Mindanao, [2] worked as a maid and her father was a white and Cherokee [3] bus driver. [4] She attended schools in the Prosper Independent School District. [1] Since 2015, Bishop and her mother have run the Tulong Foundation, a nonprofit supporting education and accessibility to drinking water in impoverished communities in her mother's hometown of Banga, South Cotabato. [1] [2] By 2022, the foundation was sponsoring over 45 children. [2]

Bishop studied musical theatre. [1] She completed her bachelor's degree and J.D. at Southern Methodist University. [1] While in law school, Bishop interned at a law firm in New York and for U.S. representative Sheila Jackson Lee. [4] In 2020, she began using TikTok during her first semester of law school. [2]

Career

She began competing in beauty pageants to earn scholarship money for school. [4] In 2019, she won first competition, Miss Lufkin. [2] She subsequently won Miss Dallas in 2020 and Miss Carrollton in 2021. [2] In her third attempt, Bishop won the 2022 Miss Texas competition. [1] She is the first Asian to win Miss Texas. [4] At Miss America 2023, she was the second-runner up after Grace Stanke of Wisconsin and Taryn Delanie Smith of New York. [5] She won US$20,000(equivalent to $20,823 in 2023). [5] She started a consulting business in January 2022. [2]

Traditionally an apolitical position, during her year term as Miss Texas, Bishop's platform "Y’all Means All" [2] advocated for diversity and inclusion and the need for comprehensive sex education in schools. [4] She has also pushed for affordable health and reproductive care. [4] She opposed the overturning of Roe v. Wade . [4] Bishop lobbied Texas Republicans to consider the benefits of college diversity and inclusion programs before the Texas Legislature ultimately passed a ban. [4] She supports student loan forgiveness. [4] Bishop is a member of the Dallas Anti-Hate Advisory Council. [2] In 2022, Bishop appeared in Miss Saigon alongside Lou Diamond Phillips at Casa Mañana. [4]

On August 22, 2023, Bishop announced that she would run for Texas' 112th House of Representatives District in the 2024 elections. [6] On March 5, 2024, she won the Democratic primary unopposed, and will face Angie Chen Button in the general election. [7]

Related Research Articles

Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, when the organization announced it was licensing operation of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants to Crystle Stewart, Miss USA for 2008 prior to her suspension in October 2022, thus returning the said pageants to the Miss Universe Organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Shapiro</span> American politician (1948-present)

Florence Donald Shapiro is an American politician from Texas. Her political career lasted over 30 years and coincided with Plano's growth from a bedroom community of 17,000 to a city of almost 300,000 residents. After moving to Plano in 1972, she served on the Plano City Council from 1979 to 1990 and served as the city's first female and Jewish elected mayor from 1990 to 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelsi Smith</span> American actress

Chelsi Mariam Pearl Smith was an American actress, singer, tv host and beauty pageant titleholder, who was crowned Miss USA 1995 and Miss Universe 1995. Smith was the third Miss USA of African-American origin, after Carole Gist (1990) and Kenya Moore (1993), in addition to being the sixth American woman to win Miss Universe and the first since Shawn Weatherly was crowned Miss Universe 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christy Fichtner</span> American actress and beauty queen

Christiane Crane Fichtner is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1986. In 2003, she participated in Who Wants to Marry My Dad?.

The Miss Texas competition was founded in 1937 as a scholarship contest for young women. The winner represents Texas in the Miss America pageant; three winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is the second-largest lobbying firm in the United States by revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss Texas Teen USA</span> Beauty pageant competition

The Miss Texas Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Texas in the Miss Teen USA pageant. This pageant is part of the Miss USA organization, owned by Texas native Crystle Stewart, who was Miss USA for 2008.

Shilah Precious Phillips is an American entertainer, beauty pageant contestant, and the 2006 winner of the Miss Texas title. She is the first African American winner of the crown in its 75-year history. She was also First Runner Up in the Miss America 2007 pageant.

Kandice Pelletier Halpin is an American beauty queen, swimwear designer, and dancer from Marietta, Georgia. She competed in the Miss America pageant and on two seasons of the reality television show The Amazing Race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crystle Stewart</span> American model and beauty pageant titleholder

Crystle Stewart Sebrechts is an American actress, whose career began in 2011, when she played real estate agent Leslie Morris on the OWN/TBS comedy-drama television series For Better or Worse until 2017. Shortly after, she appeared in the 2018 film Acrimony. She also won Miss USA 2008, and represented the United States at Miss Universe 2008, where she reached the top 10.

The Miss Texas' Teen competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the U.S. state of Texas in the Miss America's Teen pageant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teresa Scanlan</span> Miss America 2011 winner (born 1993)

Teresa Michelle Scanlan is an American attorney and beauty pageant titleholder from Gering, Nebraska who was named Miss Nebraska 2010, subsequently winning Miss America 2011 at age 17 and becoming the youngest Miss America since Bette Cooper in 1937. She now works as a business litigation attorney at King & Spalding in Houston, Texas, and serves as a staff sergeant in the Wyoming Air National Guard, in the Force Support Squadron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alyssa Edwards</span> American drag performer and choreographer

Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson, best known by the stage name Alyssa Edwards, is an American drag performer, choreographer, and businessperson. Edwards was known for competing in drag pageantry before rising to international attention as a contestant on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, becoming a fan favorite during and after her time on the show. Edwards subsequently appeared on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars and starred in her own web series, Alyssa's Secret. She won the first ever season of RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars, making her the first queen to be inducted into the "Newly Constructed International Pavilion At the Drag Race Hall of Fame".

Candice Marie Bennatt is an American lawyer and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss New Mexico 2012 and represented New Mexico at Miss America 2013 but did not place. She was crowned Miss Louisiana USA 2015 and then represented Louisiana at Miss USA 2015 where she placed Top 11.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asia O'Hara</span> American drag performer and costume designer

Antwan Mason Lee, better known by the stage name Asia O'Hara, is an American drag queen, reality television personality, and costume designer. She is most well known for competing on the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, in which she placed fourth. Since her season aired in 2018, O'Hara has been a staple of several domestic and international tours that feature Drag Race contestants, including Werq the World, Christmas Queens and Drive 'N Drag. She has also appeared on a number of web series produced by World of Wonder, including Can Do Queens, which she co-hosts with Kameron Michaels. In June 2018, she released "Queen for Tonight", her debut single. Her second single, "Crown Up", was released on May 20, 2019, along with an accompanying music video. Since January 2020, she has been a staple cast member of RuPaul's Drag Race Live!, a residency show in Las Vegas, and also stars in the accompanying VH1 miniseries RuPaul's Drag Race: Vegas Revue.

Shree Saini is an American model and beauty pageant titleholder. She represented the United States at Miss World 2022, reaching first runner-up and winning the Beauty with a Purpose National Ambassadorship. Saini is the first Asian woman to represent the United States at Miss World.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalpana Kotagal</span> American attorney

Kalpana Kotagal is an American employment attorney who is a commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R'Bonney Gabriel</span> American beauty pageant titleholder (born 1994)

R'Bonney Nola Gabriel is an American beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Universe 2022, becoming the ninth competitor from the United States to win the title, as well as the oldest entrant. She previously won Miss USA 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morgan Romano</span> American beauty pageant winner (born 1998)

Morgan Renee Romano is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2022, after its original winner R'Bonney Gabriel won Miss Universe 2022. She is the fourth woman from North Carolina to be crowned Miss USA. She also won Miss North Carolina USA 2022, and was first runner-up at Miss USA.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rogers, Tim (2022-10-13). "Miss Texas Is an SMU Law Grad". D Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Morrison, Arianna (2022-11-27). "Miss Texas breaks barriers, becoming the first Asian-American woman to represent the Lone Star State in the Miss America competition". Star Local Media. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  3. ↑ Bishop, Averie (2023-07-08). "Opinion | The simple reason I became the first Asian American Miss Texas in state history". MSNBC.com. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hennessy-Fiske, Molly (June 30, 2023). "An unlikely provocateur, Miss Texas, takes on the state's GOP leaders". Washington Post. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  5. 1 2 Tamanaha, Akemi (2022-12-19). "Miss Texas second-runner-up at Miss America competition". AsAmNews. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  6. ↑ Svitek, Patrick (22 August 2023). "Averie Bishop, outspoken as Miss Texas 2022, announces run for state Legislature". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  7. ↑ Yu, Isaac. "In a North Texas House race, two Asian candidates campaign on their version of the American Dream". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.