By Robert R. Requintina
Change is coming as Spain will field a transgender candidate at the 2018 Miss Universe beauty pageant which will be held later this year.
Angela Ponce, 26, will be the first transsexual candidate in the 67-year history of the most prestigious beauty contest.
It was in April, 2012 when the Miss Universe Organization (MUO), then owned by Donald Trump who eventually became President of the United States, ended the ban on transgender contestants.
Trump said then that the MUO ended its ban on transgender contestants following a scrutiny that a Canadian competitor Jenna Talackova was told she would be disqualified because she was born male.
Talackova was able to compete at the Miss Universe Canada but she fell short of the national title. She described the pageant as “an amazing experience,” according to CNN International.
Miss Universe President Paula Shugart said in a statement in 2012 that the credit for lifting the ban should go to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), not Allred.
“The decision to include transgender women in our beauty competitions is a result of our ongoing discussions with GLAAD and not Jenna’s legal representation, which if anything delayed the process. We have a long history of supporting equality for all women, and this was something we took very seriously,” adds Shugart.
In 2015, Trump sold the Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA pageants to talent agency WME-IMG. The new owner of MUO has not released any statement on transgender contestants for Miss Universe.