Rachel Slawson of Park City was crowned Miss Utah USA 2020 on 18th January 2020 at the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City, Utah. She will be representing Utah at the Miss USA 2020. Rachel succeeded Miss Utah USA 2019 Amanda Giroux.
Rachel is an advocate for Mental Health Awareness as she was diagnosed with Depression and Bipolar, she wants to help normalize the stigma around mental health and will be advocating about the cause more. She wants to use the platform and advocate about the mental health to a point where no one feels uncomfortable talking about how they feel.
The diva recently posted on her social media about conducting a 4-week Self-Love workshop under, “I Am Why”. She stated that she will be inviting a special guest everyday to talk about how much self-love and mental health awareness is important in one’s life. She explained the entire 4-week schedule as:
Week 1- Self Care
Week 2- Beauty as a Spiritual Practice
Week 3- Shame and Sexuality
Week 4- Find your Voice
Just today, Rachel has revealed her first guest for the week 2 of the workshop; Amanda Rodriguez. Amanda is an accomplished body positive model who advocates for mental health and breaking beauty standards on social media. She usually takes up to her social media and interacts with her fans and followers about their struggles and issues and tries to help them out in the possible way she can.
Rachel has been very active through her social media and working towards normalizing the stigma around Mental Health especially during the quarantine times. Along with Mental Health Awareness, Rachel also shares about her daily struggles with life right now and prior to being crowned as Miss Utah 2020.
Miss Utah 2020 Rachel Slawson is the first queer contestant of Miss USA beauty pageant. Rachel opened up about her sexuality on her social media where she mentioned, “Being Queer is not a ‘platform’ The reason I waited so long to come out as a member of the LGBT+ community was that I didn’t think who I choose to love should define who I am. I hope by sharing this with you, you can believe that it’s okay to accept every way you love in this world. Your love is a gift here, and so are you.”
She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after she tried to commit suicide after losing Miss Utah USA when she was 19-years-old. She, now, works as a suicide prevention advocate for the Crisis Text Line and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The diva usually shares her personal experience with people online so that they can ask for help if they need. She wants to use the platform of Miss USA to raise awareness about Mental Health issues, suicide prevention and acceptance of LGBTQ+ community by touring to local schools and businesses to discuss. She'll continue to be transparent about bipolar disorder and her sexuality, to shift the stereotypes of what a pageant competitor should look and sound like, she explained.
“Pageantry comes with an allure of perfection, and I don't think that's changed. I just think that the definitions of beauty and perfection are expanding." Rachel mentioned.
Miss USA 2020, the 69th edition of Miss USA beauty pageant, is expected to be held sometime in August 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus scare. At the conclusion of the finale, Cheslie Kryst of North Carolina, Miss USA 2019, will crown her successor who will go on to represent USA in Miss Universe 2020.