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“I’m really excited to be the voice for trans people in our state.”
Isabelle St. Cyr has always dreamed of competing in beauty pageants.
“It’s something I’ve been interested in since I was a little kid,” she told Boston.com. “’I’ve always wanted to do pageants, but never got the opportunity because I was trans.”
St. Cyr, 24, said she was inspired to sign up to compete in the Miss Maine pageant after the first transgender woman competed in a Miss Universe organization pageant in 2012.
“That really inspired me to chase my dream,” said St. Cyr, who will be the first transgender woman to compete in the Miss Maine pageant. “I finally felt comfortable enough with myself and comfortable enough with who I am to compete.”
St. Cyr grew up in Howland, Maine, where she took up tap and jazz dancing before throwing herself into cheerleading — the only co-ed sport that was offered to her at the time.
“I really fell in love with it,” she said. “Since I was always on a team of all girls, it was really my safe space to be around other women … it really made me feel included.”
After high school, St. Cyr became a makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics, teaching women how to do their makeup.
“I would just help women build a daily routine for themselves in the morning, to help them feel more confident and more beautiful,” she said. “Working for them really helped me find myself as a trans woman.”
At age 22, St. Cyr started a farm with ducks, chickens, sheep, cows, and pigs in Monson, Maine.
“I own a farm and I do pageants, which is quite the contrast of things to do,” she said. “I feel like it’s important to show other trans women specifically that you can do whatever you want in life and there are no limitations.”
Although St. Cyr tries to “remain positive,” she said she has received a lot of “backlash” from people in her small town. St. Cyr has faced name-calling and people have thrown beer cans at her, she said.
“When you’re going to represent yourself as a trans woman publicly, yes, there’s a lot of positivity, but there’s also that other side, where you have to deal with a lot of discrimination,” she said. “I try to forgive people immediately, and try to always give people the benefit of the doubt.”
To prepare for the pageant in early May, St. Cyr said she has been practicing mock interviews with friends, taking etiquette classes, and shopping for gowns and swimsuit interview attire. But first and foremost, she has been watching the Miss Universe pageant on repeat.
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“I’ve just been watching them and studying them for so long, I feel like I kind of know what to expect,” said St. Cyr, who grew up watching her sister and childhood best friend compete in Little Miss pageants. “So I’m actually really confident going into the pageant that I could do really well, even though it’s my first time.”
What truly piqued St. Cyr’s interest in pageantry is the “power that it gives women,” she said.
“I’m really excited to be the voice for trans people in our state,” St. Cyr said. “It means a lot that I can be the representation and the voice for people that are a little bit scared in these times.”
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