Barringany hitches, Spain might just field a transgender candidate to the 2018 Miss UniĀverse beauty pageant.
26-year-old Angela Ponce was crowned Miss Universe Spain last Friday.
If ever, she will be the first transsexual candidate in the 67- year-history of the prestigious beauty contest.
It was in April 2012 when the Miss Universe Organization (MUO), then owned by Donald Trump, ended the ban on transĀgender contestants.
This was after Miss Universe Canada organizers threw out pageant contestant Jenna TaĀlackova having found out she had undergone surgery to beĀcome a woman.
In 2015, Trump sold the Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA pageants to talent agency WME-IMG, which is yet to release a statement concerning transgenĀder contestants.
Who is Angela Ponce?
Ponce is a pageant veteran who first competed at Miss World Spain representing Cadiz in 2015.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Ponce, who works at her parentās restaurant, said she knew from an early age that she was ādifferent.ā
She related: āWhen my parĀents asked me what toy I wanted, I went straight for the Barbies.ā
In 2014, Ponce had surĀgery to complete her tranĀsition following years of hormone therapy.
Ponce has launched a camĀpaign on social media to earn the right to represent her counĀtry at the Miss Universe contest slated later this year.
She said, āI embark on a new dream, be the next # MissUniĀversoEspaƱa and have the pride of representing my country in the next @missuniverse. In this new stage that begins today in my life I need your support more than ever.ā
-Robert R. Requintina