"We do fun things and we travel to fun places and we wear nice clothes, but there are also people who look up to us to speak out about the murder of George Floyd, to speak out about racial inequality, to talk about climate change and how we can fix things, to inspire people to vote and go to the polls," Kryst told Insider last week.
"These things are important, and that is what people are looking to us for. And it's just one of our own responsibilities as individuals to talk about things that really matter."
While the stereotype has always been that pageant queens had to avoid controversial topics and only speak about "world peace" (as the famous "Miss Congeniality" joke goes), Kryst said she felt comfortable discussing a variety of political issues throughout her reign as Miss USA.
"We talked about legalization of marijuana, anti-abortion laws, immigration. And I think that really is authentic to an organization that allows women to speak out about these issues during the competition," Kryst explained.
"In my year, I answered questions about millennials, I answered a question about #MeToo and Time's Up, and the other women answered questions about whether people who have been convicted of felonies should get voting rights while they're still behind bars, they answered questions about the environment, about immigration," she continued. "So it's like, you know, now when you're Miss USA, why wouldn't you still answer these same questions?"
The ongoing pandemic drastically changed what Kryst's opportunities would look like as Miss USA. But it also extended her time as the titleholder — Miss USA 2020 was originally scheduled to be held in the spring — which gave her the chance to speak out after protests spread across the US following the death of George Floyd in May.
"I've been waiting my whole life to advocate for causes that are important to me, and one of those is Black Lives Matter," Kryst said. "It is racial equality, it is criminal justice reform. And now all of those issues are on the forefront of people's minds. So rather than thinking, oh, I've missed out on so many opportunities, I just think, wow, this is an incredible opportunity."
"Now I can speak out, and not just as Cheslie Kryst, but as the reigning Miss USA," she continued. "And I think that's a really large message to be able to get across to people."
- Read more:
- Meet the 51 women competing to be Miss USA 2020
- Miss USA Cheslie Kryst helped free a man sentenced to life in prison for a drug offense and says marijuana should be legal
- The 2019 titleholders of Miss Universe, Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss America are all women of color
- What it takes to be Miss USA, according to the 28-year-old lawyer Cheslie Kryst who just won the 2019 pageant
