Reina Hispanoamericana 2017 Teresita Sen “Winwyn” Marquez said she is not approve of transwomen joining the Miss Universe pageant.
She said that she has nothing against transwomen, but the Miss Universe pageant should be intended for natural-born women only.
“I love that Spain was really open na pinayagan talaga nila ‘yung ganun. I have nothing against transgenders. I’m really proud na sobrang happy, out na talaga, and everyone is respecting them, di ba? Pero Miss Universe per se, sana ibigay na lang sa natural-born women. And then kasi, there is Miss International Queen, it’s a prestigious pageant also,” she said in an interview with PEP.ph.
The Miss International Queen pageant, as mentioned by Marquez, is the world’s largest and most prestigious beauty pageant exclusively for transgender women. It is held annually in Pattaya City, Thailand since 2004. Filipino transgender beauty queens have previously won the said pageant, including Kevin Balot in 2012 and Trixie Maristela in 2015.
“It’s tradition for Miss Universe. Pero kung ia-allow naman ng Miss Universe Organization, then we should accept it also, walang problema,” she added.
On June 29, 25-year-old Angela Ponce bagged the Miss Spain 2018 crown making her the first transwoman to win the title.
Her victory will take her to Miss Universe pageant and will contend as the first ever transwoman to compete for the highly coveted crown. But since she was crowned, the Miss Universe Organization has not released any statement regarding the issue.
“Sobrang bow ako sa mga transgenders kasi they are very proud of who they are, and there’s nothing wrong with it,” she said.
But standing her ground, Marquez reiterated, “Let’s give Miss Universe to natural-born women. No disrespect at all.”
Last week, Miss Universe Philippines 2018 Catriona Gray, who will be representing the Philippines in the said pageant, said in an interview with ABS-CBN that she has no problems competing with a transgender contestant.
