Barringany hitches, Spain might just field a transgender candidate to the 2018 Miss Universe 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 transgender contestants.
This was after Miss Universe Canada organizers threw out pageant contestant Jenna Talackova having found out she had undergone surgery to become 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 transgender 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 parent’s restaurant, said she knew from an early age that she was “different.”
She related: “When my parents asked me what toy I wanted, I went straight for the Barbies.”
In 2014, Ponce had surgery to complete her transition following years of hormone therapy.
Ponce has launched a campaign on social media to earn the right to represent her country at the Miss Universe contest slated later this year.
She said, “I embark on a new dream, be the next # MissUniversoEspaña 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.”
-Robert R. Requintina
