LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – This week, 42 young women from across the state will give their all in hopes of becoming the next Miss Arkansas.

But for one of this year’s contestants, she says winning the crown would be a win for the entire LGBT community.

Brooke Cornelius, Miss South Central is setting out to shatter stereotypes in the pageant world by becoming the first openly gay Miss Arkansas.

She already has 250 crowns, a lifetime’s worth of pageant achievements. All sparkle in similar ways, but each is unique in his own right, kind of like Cornelius herself.

“Lot of memories here,” she says of her crowns, adding “I’m ready to hit the stage.”

This bubbly former cheerleader fits the pageant queen stereotype in many ways, but there is one thing that sets Brooke apart. When it came out in last year’s pageant, she feared it could cost her the competition.

“They asked me a question. They said ‘would you ask a boy out on a date,’ she recalls. “It was the judge sitting right in front of me and I’ll never forget it and I was like actually, I wouldn’t because I actually have a girlfriend.”

At first petrified to make her sexuality known, Brooke actually went on to make Top 10.

This weekend, her third go around, she hopes to take it a bit further and take home the crown.

“I was like, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t hide who I am. If I’m going to be Miss Arkansas, they’re going to crown me for who I am,” she says.

At just five feet tall, she brims with confidence and indifference toward any hateful opinions. The same, she says, when she first met her girlfriend at Henderson State, putting a progressive twist on the classic athlete-cheerleader love story.

“I met Vanessa. I was just head over heels for her. I didn’t care that I was a cheerleader. I didn’t care that I was competing in the Miss Arkansas organization,” Brooke says.

It’s a brave attitude in the pageant world, considering that even showing a tattoo on stage can be considered taboo.

When asked about the possibility of a gay Miss Arkansas, the organization said it had no opinion about contestants’ personal relationships, adding:

“We support all 42 contestants in their endeavors to become educated, community minded leaders for our generation.”

“I can’t imagine what they would think about an actual gay state titleholder coming to Miss America and saying ‘hey this is who I am, take it or leave it,” continues Brooke.

But it’s happening already. Just two days after Brooke sat down for our interview, Miss Missouri crowned its first openly gay contestant. So now, the million dollar question, will Arkansas follow suit?

“I don’t know. I think it’s kind of scary but also exciting because I would bring something very new to the table and it would be very groundbreaking for our state,” Brooke says.

Winning, she says, wouldn’t just be a crowning achievement for her….but for all young girls, to show that just because you’re different doesn’t mean you can’t be queen.

“You can do anything that you want. Be who you are,” she adds.

The 79th Miss Arkansas will be crowned Saturday night in Hot Springs.