Activist beauty queen finds size can be a plus

SCOTTSDALE - There's no need to look at Debbi Clayton twice to know that big can be beautiful.

This is a fairly new avocation for Clayton.

"It never occurred to me to do anything like this," she said. "I didn't know that there was anything for plus-size people."

Clayton, 32, hasn't always considered herself a "plus-sized" person.

"I've never been a Size 2," she said. "I went to college, gained a few pounds. Had a few children, gained a few pounds."

Clayton said she had tried all kinds of diets but soon settled into her present Size 14. She realizes that a Size 2 is an unrealistic goal.

"I eat well. I work out. But this may be as good as it gets," she said.

In part because she's won the pageants and in part because she has had to develop self-esteem based on something other than her size, Clayton's full figure has become less and less important.

"I have to be happy with me or I won't feel accepted," she said.

The pageant said it honors the inner beauty of each contestant and recognizes her commitment to the communities.

Clayton realizes that the road is long for plus-sized women to be respected.

"It's a shame that the public feels that plus-sized people are 'less than,' " she said.

Clayton is beautiful, but not just another pretty face. Self-respect is also part of her platform.

She said she was sexually assaulted when she was in her early teens. So she decided on a platform fighting against sexual assault, abuse, coercion and harassment.

"I hid it for a long time," she said. "This is a way for me to come full circle."

She takes karate at the Scottsdale Martial Arts Center and is working with the instructors there to offer self-defense classes for women.

She was recently named spokeswoman for the national Men Can Stop Rape organization.

Clayton's other talents are many. She is an accomplished pianist, a gift she plans to display at the first Ms. Plus America Pageant, in August in Louisiana. She also finds time to ice skate, something in which she used to compete. Most of her time is taken up being mother to her children, 2-year-old Andrew and 8-year-old Nicholas, and wife to John.

Reach the reporter at kirsten.sorenson@scottsdale republic.com or (602) 444-6843.