The plot of “Queen of the Gulf” in 2024

_{Photo: Kendall Morgan, Queen of the Bay 2023-2024}

The Bay Area Queen Council and the Association of Former Bay Area Queens have stripped current Bay Area Queen Kendall Morgan of her title after she allegedly violated multiple contract clauses.

Her lawyers said that “these allegations are false,” “they are color-discriminating” and that the “committee sabotaged their pageant.”

By Charles Gladden

Belize City, Wednesday, August 14, 2024

This may be the first time in the history of the “Queen of the Gulf” that a reigning queen has been stripped of her crown and title – and this removal happened just a week before the pageant!

The Association of Former Gulf Queens and the National Gulf Queen Council publicly announced via a press release on Wednesday, August 14, that the current Gulf Queen, Kendall Morgan, will not be attending this year’s September Celebrations, as she has been unanimously stripped of her title of Queen for allegedly violating multiple conditions.

According to a press release from the National Gulf Queen Committee, there have been numerous attempts to ensure Morgan completes her reign, which will end on St. George’s Island Day, September 10, when a new Gulf Queen will be crowned. However, Morgan is alleged to have repeatedly violated the terms of the contract, which was legally signed on November 23, 2023.

The press release further mentioned that Morgan had been given multiple verbal warnings for “bullying, cyberbullying, and general disrespectful and offensive behavior.” The committee noted that these actions violated clauses 5, 10, 11, 12, and 13 of her contract.

According to the announcement, Section 5 of the contract states: “She will at all times conduct herself in a manner consistent with the dignity and image of the Queen of the Gulf – this also includes posts on social media – and if at any time her conduct is deemed to have a negative or derogatory effect on the title Queen of the Gulf, the committee shall have the right to warn her verbally and in writing and inform her that if such conduct persists three (3) times, the committee will revoke the title of Queen.”

Furthermore, clauses 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the contract highlight the terms and conditions that the Gulf Queen must meet when engaging with the public, raising any concerns or queries, or notifying plans to leave the country.

“They are trying to rely on a clause that she should not leave the country without informing them, but that clause cannot restrict her freedom of movement. If the committee has arranged events during her absence so far, then this can be interpreted as a restriction on her movement,” said Morgan’s lawyer Arthur Saldivar. He continued, “Her absence was only from Friday to Sunday and had nothing to do with any time she was performing her duties as Queen of the Gulf. So it would not be a breach of her contract; if it was a breach, it would be only one time, and the contract would say that three incidents would be grounds for her dismissal, but they did not… Kendall went to the United States to visit her sister for three days; it would have been shorter, but she stayed an extra day due to the hurricane. She was not absent from the country for a long time, so as to prevent her from performing her duties; she did not when she left, and she did not when she came back!”

Saldivar also said that other allegations of misconduct against his client were false, and that the press release was defamatory and that the committee’s decision reflected a colorist attitude toward Morgan.

“What happened here is that they took colorism to an extreme! She is beautiful, but she is dark-skinned; therefore, they used the little power they had to humiliate, ridicule and demean her. We are talking about a young lady who was a model student at SJC Sixth Form and who has performed her duties with dignity, respect and grace throughout her tenure,” said Saldivar.

The release noted that during Morgan’s tenure, she was reportedly offered advice, guidance, and even professional help, but was rejected.

“Consulting what?! The press release is defamatory because it implies that a perfectly normal person with no problems has problems. But because she is from rural Burrell Boom, has dark skin, and comes from a family they don’t respect, they are doing everything they can to demean her,” Saldivar said.

“… they practice colorism; because she has a darker skin tone, she doesn’t get the same respect as other girls. Before they took action, a former queen with a lighter skin tone was featured in the calendar; what does that say? You didn’t take her rights away; she’s still the Queen of the Gulf; why create a calendar featuring a former queen who is no longer the Queen of the Gulf? It shows that they made the decision before anything happened. They are making excuses,” he added.

Saldivar said the committee should have handled the matter differently and that they sabotaged the pageant.

He said: “The committee has sabotaged their pageant and I advise women not to sign up for the pageant as it is run by idiots, fools and fools who don’t care.”

Amandala Attempts were made to contact Sherima Usher Guity, chairperson of the National Gulf Queen Council; however, as of the time of writing, we have not received a response. It is worth noting that Keely Faux, the runner-up of the last Gulf Queen pageant, from Stann Creek West, will become the new queen after Morgan is ousted.

Saldivar also claimed that his client has not received 90% of her prize money from last year’s pageant, which included a plot of land and a scholarship to study for a bachelor’s degree at the University of Belize. Morgan is taking legal action against the committee to force them to retract their statement and apologize.