(AP) The first openly gay contestant in the Miss America pageant was eliminated Sunday night when the top 15 finalists were chosen.
(CNN) Smiling as she sits in a float at St. Louis' annual pride parade, Erin O'Flaherty gleams with a crown atop her head, a prize she clinched after being crowned Miss Missouri last month.
(AP) After competing in pageants for generations in the closet or working behind the scenes, gays and lesbians finally get to see one of their own take one of pageantry's biggest stages.
