Local Beauty Queens Oppose Miss Universe Ruling To Accept Transgender Beauties
Ma. Isabel Lopez and Miriam Quiambao, representatives of the Philippines to the Miss Universe pageant in 1982 and 1999 respectively, voiced out their opposition to the Miss Universe Organization’s recent decision to allow “women who are transgender” to compete beginning next year.
The policy change was announced in a joint statement by The Gay & Lesbian Alli¬ance Against Defa¬mation (GLAAD) and the Miss Universe Orga¬nization in the US on April 10, a week after the almost 60-year-old pageant went under fire for disquali¬fying transgender Miss Universe-Canada hopeful Jenna Talackova to the com¬petition to be held on May 19, and eventually reinstating her “provided she meets the legal gender recogni¬tion requirements of Canada, and the standards established by other international competitions.”
