Former Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach is the latest beauty queen to air her opinion about the highly-debated results of the Miss Spain 2018 beauty pageant, wherein a transgender contestant was crowned as the winner.
On June 29, 25-year-old Angela Ponce bagged the Miss Spain 2018 crown making her the first trans woman to win the title.
Her victory will enable her to represent Spain in Miss Universe wherein she will be the first ever trans woman to compete for the highly coveted crown.
Last week, Wurtzbach gave her two cents about the issue and said that she is in favor of trans women competing in the prestigious pageant which she won in 2015.
“It is allowed in Miss Universe. You can compete, you can win. You don’t have to be a natural-born woman to win Miss Universe,” she said in an interview with ABS-CBN News.
In 2012, when the Miss Universe Organization was still under the management of current US President Donald Trump, pageant organizers lifted the ban on transgender contestants.
Transwomen are now allowed to join in one of the world’s most prestigious beauty pageant given that they were able to win the national title in their home country.
Miss Universe Philippines 2018 Catriona Gray, who will be representing the Philippines in the said pageant later this year, share the same sentiments as Wurtzbach.
However, Wurtzbach’s successor Miss Universe Philippines 2016 Maxine Medina, said that she is not in favor of the inclusion of trans women in the pageant.
“Kung gusto talaga nilang sumali, may mga pageants naman na for them, na right for them, so let’s just give them an idea na meron naman talagang pageant for them. Para naman equal din sa girls, di ba? Siyempre, may mga gusto din tayong i-share, lalo na sa mga women,” PEP.ph quoted Medina as saying.
Medina added that the decision still depends on the Miss Universe Organization.
Miss Universe 2018 has yet to announce the final date and venue this year, but it is expected to take place in November either in Macau, South Korea, or Vietnam.
