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Pageant queen was told to hide her intersex condition. Then she completely shocked everyone.
Jackie Blankenship started entering pageants around the age of 12, but it took her over a decade and a half to start competing as the truest version of herself.
She nabbed her biggest win at age 36, when she was crowned Mrs. America 2022. And as they called her name, Blankenship relished in the fact that no one could claim she didn't deserve the title. No one could say she didn't show up to the nationwide pageant as anything but herself. It was a surprising and unexpected win, but it was earned.
Because in the semi-finals, when the top six Mrs. America contestants individually answer a question on stage, Blankenship spoke with no holds barred. Despite some advice she'd received while training for the pageant, she didn't sugarcoat her story and the platform it inspired.
"There were times when the people that I was preparing with were like, 'I don't know if you should say that. I don't know if you should put it that way,'" Blankenship recalls to PEOPLE. "We were in the top six and I thought, 'I cannot believe I got to this point.' And then I talked about having balls."
https://people.com/intersex-pageant-queen-crowned-winner-after-revealing-her-condition-exclusive-11787610She nabbed her biggest win at age 36, when she was crowned Mrs. America 2022. And as they called her name, Blankenship relished in the fact that no one could claim she didn't deserve the title. No one could say she didn't show up to the nationwide pageant as anything but herself. It was a surprising and unexpected win, but it was earned.
Because in the semi-finals, when the top six Mrs. America contestants individually answer a question on stage, Blankenship spoke with no holds barred. Despite some advice she'd received while training for the pageant, she didn't sugarcoat her story and the platform it inspired.
"There were times when the people that I was preparing with were like, 'I don't know if you should say that. I don't know if you should put it that way,'" Blankenship recalls to PEOPLE. "We were in the top six and I thought, 'I cannot believe I got to this point.' And then I talked about having balls."
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