Judge Betsey Johnson, an American fashion designer, asks: “In a recent beauty pageant bikinis were banned amid protests from religious groups. As someone who competed in a swimsuit tonight, do you believe such groups should have that influence? Why or why not?”
(The question refers to the Miss World pageant in Indonesia, where bikinis were banned from the contest, after the organizers were pressured by Muslim groups)
Miss Texas, Ali Nugent answers: “I think we live in a country where we have freedoms that people around the world don’t. And we have the ability to vote for things we agree with and vote against things we don’t agree with. I personally am very confident with myself, and I feel perfectly fine being up here in front of millions of people in a swimsuit, but I absolutely agree with those people: They have the right to stand up and vote against whatever they feel is not necessary.”
