Miss Kansas Gets Wide Support After Using Pageant Speech To Call Out An Ex Who Allegedly Abused Her: ‘I And My Community Deserve Healthy Relationships’

Alexis Smith, a rising star who was recently named Miss Kansas , is getting wide praise after she publicly called out an ex who allegedly subjected her to domestic violence . Smith spoke out unapologetically on stage as she earned her crown on June 8 in Wichita, Kansas.

“My vision as the next Miss Kansas is to eliminate unhealthy and abusive relationships,” Smith said, according to ABC News . “Matter of fact, some of you out in this audience saw me very emotional because my abuser is here today. But that’s not going to stop me from being on this Miss Kansas stage and from representing as the next Miss Kansas. Because I and my community deserve healthy relationships.”

Smith was showered with love and support after posting a clip of the moment across social media.

Many of Smith’s supporters said speaking up is a critical step forward in the fight against domestic violence.

In an interview with KSN, Smith said many of her family members have also faced domestic violence.

“My family, every single woman in my family, was impacted by domestic violence,” the beauty queen told KSN . “At the age of 14, I got in my first relationship, but it was also an abusive relationship that I was in until about 2018, 2019. It’s something that I’m still experiencing and dealing with today.”

Smith, who is working as a cardiothoracic ICU nurse, said she left her hometown and moved to Texas for a few years to escape the abusive relationship. The Kansas model is now back in Wichita, where she’s studying nursing at Newman University.

As Smith continues to advocate for women, she is turning to pivotal community resources like pageants.

“I took advantage of the Miss Kansas Organization, which truly focuses on empowering women,” Smith said. “And me, being a woman who needed that empowerment all my life, being a bystander to domestic violence, a victim, a survivor, and now an advocate as well as a young woman who is educationally driven, I have the opportunity not only to share my story on such a large scale but also go back to school.”