Hijabi teen becomes first fully-covered participant in US beauty pageant
A Kenya-born former refugee has become the first fully-covered participant to ever take part in a US beauty pageant. Halima Aden, 19, who wears a hijab because of her religious beliefs, chose to don a burkini during the Miss Minnesota pageant’s semi-final swimsuit round.
Halima Aden starts off Miss Minnesota USA's swimsuit segment to big cheers from the crowd. Announcer: "She's making history tonight." pic.twitter.com/OUvbHv6xct
— Liz Sawyer (@ByLizSawyer) November 27, 2016
Aden, who was born in a refugee camp in Kenya, had moved to the United States at the age of six. Although she did not win the contest, she hopes that her participation would help challenge people’s prejudices about Islam.
“For a really long time I thought being different was a negative thing. But as I grew older, I started to realize we are all born to stand out, nobody is born to blend in. How boring would this world be if everyone was the same?” she was quoted as saying by CBS.
