Isabelle St. Cyr of Monson is the first openly transgender woman to compete in the annual Miss Maine pageant. She has dreamed of competing in a pageant since she was a child, and she hopes her campaign will help pave the way for more trans women to participate in these events. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

Beauty pageants aren’t something we report on regularly in this newspaper, only when someone noteworthy is competing.

The last time we covered the Miss Maine USA pageant, as far as I can tell, was in 2017, when the first Muslim contestant entered the competition, wearing a hijab with her evening gown and a “burkini” as her swimsuit.

This year, we’ve had two occasions to write about contestants in the upcoming pageant, for very different reasons: One is the first openly transgender woman to compete for the Miss Maine title. The other is Bill Belichick’s girlfriend.

Isabelle St. Cyr, 24, a Howland native who lives on a farmstead in Monson, told the Press Herald that she’s competing to fulfill a lifelong dream and challenge stereotypes about trans people.

Jordon Hudson, 24, who grew up in Hancock in a long line of fishermen, was the first runner-up in the same pageant last year and has been an outspoken supporter of the Maine fishing industry, including on Instagram, in an appearance at this year’s Maine Fishermen’s Forum and in a message to President Donald Trump, asking him to reconsider his decision to cut the federally funded Maine Sea Grant, which he did.

Former NFL head coach Bill Belichick and girlfriend Jordon Hudson pose on the red carpet at the NFL Honors award show ahead of the Super Bowl on Feb. 6 in New Orleans. Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

I reached out to her after that happened to see if she’d talk about her childhood in Maine and how she’s using her newfound celebrity on the arm of the legendary New England Patriots’ coach for her advocacy work.

Hudson made clear she wasn’t willing to answer questions about her relationship (often criticized because of their nearly five-decade age gap), even though she’s not shy about sharing it online. She frequently posts about herself and Belichick, who is either so smitten that he’s happy to acquiesce to her photo shoot requests (including one of them dressed as a fisherman and mermaid and another performing an acrobatic pilates move on the beach) or has decided, in this new phase of his personal and professional life, to shed that stony exterior and show us more of his silly side.

Who knows. Hudson flirted with the idea of doing an interview, but after I asked if she’d be OK with talking about what she’s shown Belichick of Maine, for the benefit of this corner of Patriots Nation, she stopped answering my emails.

Meanwhile, since St. Cyr shared her story with the Press Herald and about dozen other media outlets, from Boston to Sweden, she’s received messages of support and gratitude, both on social media and from people on the street who recognize her, she said Monday.

There’s been some backlash, too, in Facebook comments and from people in the town where she lives, including one who showed up at her house, throwing beer cans, until she called the police, she said.

But she seems to be taking it in stride while continuing to prep for the pageant, focused mainly on the interview, which accounts for 50% of a contestant’s score, with evening gown and swimsuit portions of the event making up the rest.

As far as St. Cyr knows, all applicants who meet the eligibility requirements and make it through a screening process are accepted into the pageant, happening May 10 and 11 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Those requirements include being a medically recognized female born in 2006 or earlier who is a citizen of the U.S. and is a full-time Maine student or worker or has been a permanent resident of the state for at least three months prior to the pageant date.

Judging by Hudson’s jet-setting photos, it’s hard to tell where she lives, though her LinkedIn profile lists her as the CEO and founder of Trouble Cub Enterprises, based in Boston. Pageant organizer Laurie Clemente did not respond to phone or email messages asking about the selection and verification process, as well as how ticket sales for the pageant have been compared to previous years, considering the attention this year’s contestants are drawing.

St. Cyr said she’s heard that press passes to the event have been in high demand, and considering that tickets start at $95, she’s optimistic that people willing to pay to attend the event are coming to support the contestants rather than cause problems. In the audience rooting for St. Cyr will be her mom and two sisters, her boyfriend and his mother.

With spring football practice wrapped up at the University of North Carolina and a few weeks to go before the start of a training camp there for high school teams, I’d like to think Belichick would show up to support Hudson, who has been heavily involved in his professional life, monitoring his emails and mentions of him online. (A now-viral clip from a CBS Sunday Morning interview that aired last weekend showed her hanging on the sidelines and shutting down a question about how they met.)

But who are Mainers rooting for? Among the 17 contestants in a people’s choice poll on the Miss Maine website, which charges $1 per vote and guarantees the winner a spot in the semifinals, St. Cyr was in third with 322 votes, behind Lexi Bjork of Greenville with 750 votes and Arianna DeJesus, representing Penobscot, with 660, as of Wednesday morning. Hudson had four.

While we don’t have to pick sides and can admire that both young women are using their respective platforms to stand up for something bigger than themselves, I can’t help but be partial to people who pick up the phone.

Although St. Cyr said she’s seen her story and photos get manipulated to make her look bad, by opening up, she’s also touched a lot of people in a profound way.

As much as Hudson may think she’s savvily managing her and Belichick’s images, if she cares about being seen in a positive light, she should consider taking a page from her fellow contestant’s playbook and, rather than post staged photos and glamour shots, make herself vulnerable and share something real.