Miss Spain Becomes First Transgender Woman to Participate in the Miss Universe Pageant
For the 27-year-old model, Angela Ponce, it is a matter of honor and pride, for becoming a part in the history of the pageant.
Miss Spain Angela Ponce couldn’t able win the Miss Universe title this year, but she has achieved a historic feat by becoming the first transgender woman to compete with 93 beauties of the world, in the Miss Universe pageant.
For the 27-year-old model, Angela Ponce, it is a matter of honor and pride, for becoming a part in the history of the pageant. She said, “This is for you, for those who have no visibility, no voice, because we all deserve a world of respect, inclusion and freedom. And today I am here, proudly representing my nation, all women and human rights”.
In recent years, the beauty pageants have undergone many important changes in order to avoid objectifying women. Angela said, she decided to participate in the competition not just to fulfill her personal ambitions but also to be an ambassador for Spanish culture. During her national costume round, she wore a traditional Spanish “bata de cola”.
She later posted on her Instagram, with the photograph and said, “This is an iconic piece in Spain, also known all over the world, it is a precious reference of my country”. Explaining her idea of Feminism, Angela said, “To me, feminism is freedom to do what you want, when you want to. We cannot put brakes on the freedom of women, on one platform or another”.
The miss universe organisation too have embraced her, which is evident from the pageant tweet, when it tweeted a video of Angela Ponce entering the stage with the caption, “A walk to remember. A historic night for #MissUniverse”. It was a sharp change from the stand of Miss Universe organization, which has criticized the participation of transgender women in 2012, disqualifying transgender woman Jenna Talackova from the Miss Canada competition because she was not ‘naturally born’ a woman.
Later when Jenna Talackova threatened legal action against the organization, which was owned by Donald Trump. The organisation changed the rules to allow transgender contestants in its pageants. Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen then said, “As long as she meets the standards of legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, which we understand that she does, Jenna Talackova is free to compete in the 2012 Miss Universe Canada.”
At last Talackova finished in the list of top 12 of the Miss Canada pageant and was one of four contestants, who were later awarded “Miss Congeniality”.
