Transgender student named Miss Congeniality in California university's beauty pageant

A transgender student was named “Miss Congeniality” last week at a southern California university beauty pageant.

Chapman University senior Addie Vincent was nominated to compete against 15 other students in the all-woman Miss Delta Queen pageant organized by the school’s Greek system, reported the Orange County Register.

The 21-year-old Vincent was nominated by the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity in a 20-0 vote to become the first transgender contestant in the annual fundraiser held Wednesday for the Beckstrand Cancer Association.

Vincent, who is working to create the university’s first gender-neutral “fraority,” is a Detroit-area native who came out as gay while a freshman at Chapman and started wearing makeup and feminine clothing as a sophomore.

She drew loud cheers from the crowd every time she took the stage during the pageant, which was founded in 2008 by the Delta Tau Delta sorority.

Although Alexandria Kessinger won the Miss Delta Queen title, Vincent said she was thrilled to be a part of the event.

“Tonight was so awesome,” Vincent said. “The fact that I was just able to compete was so amazing on its own.”

Watch this video promoting Vincent's candidacy posted online by Addie4DeltaQueen2014: