“Queen” in the queer community usually means something very different than what Analouisa Valencia aspires to be. The 19 year old biracial lesbian will be competing in the upcoming Miss South Carolina pageant with hopes to continue onto the national title of Miss America.

“I want to show the judges who I really am,” says Valencia. “I want to show them how passionate I am about my platform, how passionate I am for being an advocate for equality.” She’ll show the judges and conservative audiences from South Carolina just how beautiful inclusion can be.

Valencia who has a Mexican father and African American mother is changing the face of beauty pageants by being a woman of color in the white dominated world of pageants. Plus she’s competing with a strong human rights platform that draws attention to issues of ability, racism and sexuality. Here she is talking about the importance of diversity in the pageant world.

In a time when Toddlers and Tiaras horrifies everyone that owns a television with images of preschoolers strutting in bikini’s and full make-up, it’s powerful to have a young queer woman of color speaking about equality.

You’re already a queen to us Analouisa, get that crown girl!