The first openly gay beauty contestant is crowned and will compete at Miss America

She has been crowned Miss Missouri.

We are always in awe of models. They have a tough time, between following rigorous exercise routines and abiding by difficult diets. Even after all that they have to deal with body shaming, finding it hard to stay positive while doing their thing.

via Giphy

One model that has recently made history is Erin O'Flaherty, the first openly gay model to be crowned Miss Missouri and will represent her state at the Miss America contest. According to Irish Central, the 23-year-old came out at the age of 18 and was candid about her sexuality throughout the Miss Missouri competition. Erin graduated with a major in legal studies from university and co-owns a boutique with her family. The new Miss Missouri spoke of her delight at being granted the title:

"I'm on cloud nine really just to be Miss Missouri, I don't know that I intended to be the first [gay contestant] but I am. So I'm very excited about it.” "My focus of my year isn't going to be that I'm gay, it's certainly a big part of who I am, and I will be promoting it and raising awareness for the LGBT community." "But also there will be many appearances that I do that have nothing to do with that."

The Miss America grand pageant will be held in Atlantic City on September 11 where Erin O'Flaherty will compete among 52 other contestants. Twitter users wasted no time congratulating the new Miss Missouri.

So happy to see the first openly gay #MissAmerica contestant! #lbgt #loveislove #weexist

— • ..Alexa.. • (@PoniesandChill) June 24, 2016

Not the hugest fan of the miss America/world contests, but having the first openly gay lady win it? ???? — Rachel Schultz (@RachelSchultz1) June 24, 2016

Congrats to @MissAmericaMO! Your bravery in being visibly gay shows #LGBTQ youth their futures can be bright! https://t.co/zGxGoWxxk0

— The Trevor Project (@TrevorProject) June 23, 2016

All images via Twitter