A New York woman is challenging Miss America, Miss World rules banning mothers from beauty pageants

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York woman is challenging the longstanding rules of Miss America and Miss World that disqualify mothers from their beauty pageants.

Danielle Hazel said Monday that she’s always dreamed of entering the competitions but was devastated to learn that she’s no longer eligible because she had a son when she was just 19 years old.

“When I told Zion, who is now 6 years old, about these rules he had an immediate gut reaction: he said that these rules are stupid,” she said, speaking at the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in New York’s Central Park. “His sense of fairness at only 6 years old tells him that this is unjust and makes no sense.”

Hazel’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, said a complaint sent Monday to the city’s Commission on Human Rights seeks an end to the requirements because they deny and exclude mothers from an “important business and cultural opportunity” simply because of their status as parents.

“As we stated in Danielle‘s filed complaint, this exclusion is degrading to Danielle as it is based upon the antiquated stereotype that women cannot be both a mother and be beautiful, poised, passionate, talented and philanthropic,” Allred said.

Spokespersons for the Miss America and Miss World pageant organizations didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment Monday. A spokesperson for the human rights commission said the agency does not comment on open investigations.

Allred noted that she previously had success challenging a similar rule for a California mother denied eligibility to compete in the Miss California pageant, which is part of the Miss Universe and Miss USA organizations.

The discrimination complaint filed by Andrea Quiroga with the California Civil Rights Department prompted Miss Universe to eliminate its 70-year-old rule, which was imposed worldwide through its affiliated organizations, Allred said.

“Being pregnant or being a parent is not a crime and should not exclude an individual from employment or business opportunities,” Allred said. “An individual’s status as a parent should not carry a stigma and no person should have to feel embarrassed, humiliated, or degraded because they have become a parent.”

The two women were joined Monday by Veronika Didusenko, who was crowned Miss Ukraine 2018 only to have the title stripped when the Miss World organization learned that she had a child.

Didusenko, who has since created an organization advocating for an end to beauty pageant bans on mothers, said she lost her legal challenge in Ukraine but is seeking relief from the European Court of Human Rights.

Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.

Danielle Hazel, left, speaks during a news conference accompanied by her attorney Gloria Allred, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Joe Frederick)

Flanked by Veronika Didusenko, left, and Danielle Hazel, right, attorney Gloria Allred, center, speaks during a news conference Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Joe Frederick)

OSLO, Norway (AP) — A beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation that it was a Russian spy, was not shot to death as claimed by animal rights groups but died of a bacterial infection, Norwegian police said Friday.

A final autopsy by Norway's Veterinary Institute “concludes that the probable cause of death was bacterial infection -- possibly as a result of a wound in the mouth from a stuck stick,” Amund Preede Revheim, head of the North Sea and Environment section of the police in south-western Norway said.

“There have been no findings from the autopsy that indicate that the whale has been shot,” he stressed, adding that the autopsy had been “made difficult by the fact that many of the whale’s organs were very rotten.” As there was no indication of foul play, there was no reason to start a criminal investigation into its death, Preede Revheim said.

The tame beluga, which was first spotted in 2019 not far from Russian waters with a harness reading “Equipment St. Petersburg,” had been nicknamed "Hvaldimir,” combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It was found floating in a southern Norway bay on Aug. 31.

In September, animal advocate groups OneWhale and NOAH filed a police report saying that the animal’s wounds suggested it was intentionally killed.

They pointed at several wounds found on the animal’s skin, including what was interpreted as a bullet hole.

“Assessments made by the Veterinary Institute and the police’s forensic technicians are that these are not gunshot wounds. X-rays of the chest and head were carried out without any projectiles or other metal fragments being detected,” police said in a statement.

Earlier, police had described a stick about 35 centimeters (14 inches) long and 3 centimeters (1 inch) wide which was found wedged in the animal’s mouth, its stomach was empty and its organs had broken down, police said. No further details were given.

The 4.2-meter (14-foot) long and 1,225-kilogram (2,700-pound) whale was first spotted by fishermen not far from the Arctic town of Hammerfest.

Its harness, along with what appeared to be a mount for a small camera, led to media speculation that it was a “spy whale.” Experts say the Russian navy is known to have trained whales for military purposes. Media reports also have speculated that the whale might have been trained as a therapy animal.

There was no immediate reaction from OneWhale or NOAH.

FILE - In this photo taken in April 2019 a beluga whale found in Arctic Norway is fed. (Jorgen Ree Wiig, Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries via AP)