Averie Bishop
Averie Bishop | |
---|---|
Born | McKinney, Texas, U.S. |
Education | Southern Methodist University (BA, JD) |
Title | Miss Texas (2022) |
Website | Official website |
Averie Bishop is an American businessperson, social media personality, politician, and beauty pageant titleholder. She was the 2022 Miss Texas and second-runner up at Miss America 2023. She is currently a Democratic candidate for Texas's 112th House of Representatives district.[1]
Life
Bishop was born in McKinney, Texas.[2] Her mother, a Filipina immigrant from Banga, South Cotabato, Mindanao,[3] worked as a maid and her father was a white and Cherokee[4] bus driver.[5] She attended schools in the Prosper Independent School District.[2] Since 2015, Bishop and her mother have run the Tulong Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at improving education and accessibility to drinking water in impoverished communities in her mother's hometown of Banga.[2][3] By 2022, the foundation was sponsoring over 45 children.[3]
Bishop studied musical theatre.[2] She completed her bachelor's degree and J.D. at Southern Methodist University.[2] While in law school, Bishop interned at a law firm in New York and for U.S. representative Sheila Jackson Lee.[5] In 2020, she began using TikTok during her first semester of law school.[3] Following graduation, she founded a creating consulting business in January 2022.[3] Bishop began competing in beauty pageants to earn scholarship money for school.[5] In 2019, she won first competition, Miss Lufkin.[3] She subsequently won Miss Dallas in 2020 and Miss Carrollton in 2021.[3] In her third attempt, Bishop won the 2022 Miss Texas competition.[2] She is the first Asian to win Miss Texas.[5] At Miss America 2023, she was the second-runner up after Grace Stanke of Wisconsin and Taryn Delanie Smith of New York.[6] She won US$20,000 (equivalent to $20,823 in 2023).[6]
Traditionally an apolitical position, during her year term as Miss Texas, Bishop's platform "Y’all Means All"[3] advocated for diversity and inclusion and the need for comprehensive sex education in schools.[5] She has also pushed for affordable health and reproductive care.[5] She opposed the overturning of Roe v. Wade.[5] Bishop lobbied Texas Republicans to consider the benefits of college diversity and inclusion programs before the Texas Legislature ultimately passed a ban.[5] She supports student loan forgiveness.[5] Bishop is a member of the Dallas Anti-Hate Advisory Council.[3] In 2022, Bishop starred in Miss Saigon alongside Lou Diamond Phillips at Casa Mañana.[5]
References
- ^ Svitek, Patrick (22 August 2023). "Averie Bishop, outspoken as Miss Texas 2022, announces run for state Legislature". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f Rogers, Tim (2022-10-13). "Miss Texas Is an SMU Law Grad". D Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Morrison, Arianna (2022-11-27). "Miss Texas breaks barriers, becoming the first Asian-American woman to represent the Lone Star State in the Miss America competition". Star Local Media. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
- ^ Bishop, Averie (2023-07-08). "Opinion | The simple reason I became the first Asian American Miss Texas in state history". MSNBC.com. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hennessy-Fiske, Molly (June 30, 2023). "An unlikely provocateur, Miss Texas, takes on the state's GOP leaders". Washington Post. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
- ^ a b Tamanaha, Akemi (2022-12-19). "Miss Texas second-runner-up at Miss America competition". AsAmNews. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
External links
- Official website