As many of you TransGriot readers know, I was one of the judges for the inaugural Miss Trans Global virtual pageant.
After two months of interviews and videos, paring down the initial 18 contestants from around the world down to a Top 15 and then down to ten semifinalists, we finally know who was crowned Miss Trans Global.
Congratulations to our new queen. Mela Franco Habijan from the Philippines!
The Miss Trans Global Top 5 was tight.point wise. One point separated the queen from the Duchess Global (1st runner up) Rebeckah Lovejoy of Australia.
It was not an easy job for me and my fellow judges to sort out who would win this inaugural title. There were nights I had to review video multiple times for several hours before casting my ballots.
The quality of the women vying for this inaugural Miss Trans Global title was just that outstanding, and they brought their pageant A games.
Rounding out the Top 5 in addition to Duchess Global (1st runner up) Rebeckah Lovejoy of Australia. is Baroness Global, Danielly Drugge of Sweden (4th runner up) ,Countess Global (3rd runner up) Semakaleng Mothapo of South Africa, and Marchioness Global (2nd runner up) Veso Golden of Ghana.
Congratulations once again to Mela and the inaugural court of Miss Trans Global 2020!
It was an honor and sincere privilege to be part of the judging panel for this inaugural Miss Trans Global pageant. I enjoyed being part of the judging panel for this event and getting to know my sister judges and the contestants as this event unfolded.
I'm looking forward to not only working with our queen as her reign unfolds, but with all the 2020 contestants as opportunities present themselves for advancing the human rights of our international trans family.
It was also nice to be part of the judging team for a pageant system in which intelligence was prized, and the scoring system reflected it. . Congrats to Miss Sahhara and her Miss Trans Global production team for making her vision of a virtual international pageant happen.
Here's hoping that Miss Trans Global 2021 is bigger and better than this year's edition turned out to be.
I was asked back in May to be one of the panel of judges for the inaugural London based Miss Trans Global pageant.
One of the things y'all don't know about me, but probably should have guessed from my coverage of the Miss International Queen and mainstream cisgender ones like Miss USA and Miss Universe on this blog is that I love pageants, especially the trans ones.
And yeah, I have been honored to be asked to judge a few of them back in the day.
When Sahhara laid out her vision about Miss Trans Global, it spoke to me because I have always felt that the interview portion of pageants should be more heavily weighted in the scoring than talent,and evening gown.
I also loved the fact that it is a trans feminine conceived, led and run project, with the three member Miss Trans Global leadership team having pageant and show business experience..
Also important to me is that the scoring and judging system that has been set up for Miss Trans Global will be one that is fair and transparent for the contestants.
Transparency and fairness at times has been a challenging concept for many trans pageant systems including Miss International Queen.
But back to talking about my major beef with many trans pageants besides fair and impeccably scrupulous judging.
It does you no good as a pageant owner or organizer to have a gorgeous pageant queen who looks stunning in a gown, has talent, but has subpar oratory skills and is clueless as hell when it comes to current events going on outside of Pageant World .
A trans pageant contestant whether they like it or not, once they put on that sash and crown, is seen by elements of society as a representation of the trans community.
Heavily weighing the interview portion is something that occurs with the Mr and Miss Black Trans International pageant that happens during the week long Black Trans Advocacy Conference (BTAC).
The reason it happens is because in large part the BTIPS pageant winners become the spokespersons and faces of our org for the next year of their reign..
So what's Miss Trans Global? It is an international online pageant for trans and gender nonconforming people 18 and up from all backgrounds to raise awareness on transgender and LGB issues around the world. Most importantly to me, unlike the Thai based Miss International Queen one, Miss Trans Global has a diverse group of judges. .
So yes, a trans pageant queen needs to be more than a pretty face. She also needs to be a woman with substance. It's why I eagerly jumped at the chance when asked to be named to this year's international panel of judges for this inaugural Miss Trans Global pageant/.
The Miss Trans Global Pageant has 18 contestants from four continents, Africa, Asia, North and South America competing. The pageant is running online from July 1-30, with the crowning of the winner to take place on August 1.
You interested peeps also get a say on which one of our contestants makes it to our Top 15, semifinal and final rounds. For your vote to count,, you must like the Miss Trans Global Facebook page before choosing your fave contestants
So handle your business. Check out the contestants on your favorite social media platform and then vote for your faves.
Check out The Queen's Speech preliminary part of this pageant in which all the contestants submitted videos that discussed what they would do if they were honored with the Miss Trans Global crown.
.
Looking forward to finding out along with all of you peeps worldwide who will be the inaugural winner of the Miss Trans Global virtual trans pageant.
You're also about to find out what I have known for years. Trans is not only beautiful, but we have some intelligent, classy and talented women in our ranks.,
Earlier this year Jazell Harvey became the first Black person ever to win the Miss International Queen trans pageant in its 15 year history.
While we have had since the Miss Universe system opened their doors to trans women in 2013, several trans women from around the globe have attempted to make it to the Miss Universe pageant stage,. starting with Canada's Jenna Talackova.
The only one so far that has successfully done so, although she didn't make it to the 15 semifinalist round, has been Miss Spain Universe 2018 Angela Ponce.
We have had trans women from Canada, Mongolia, Chile and Norway make it to their national pageant stages. Trans women in China, Belgium, Brazil and Puerto Rico fell short of making it to their national pageant stage.
None of those trans contestants attempting to make it to a Miss Universe stage or compete in a US state pageant has been Black until now.
Taj Jackson is the person who attempt to do so, and she couldn't have picked a tougher pageant challenge. The Miss Inglewood delegate is competing in the Miss California Universe 2020 pageant, which sends its winner to the Miss USA one and is part of the Miss universe pageant system.
Miss California Universe along with Miss Texas Universe are considered two of the toughest state pageants to win and qualify for Miss USA in because both have more than 200 contestants competing in them. That is triple the number of contestants Miss Universe has had in recent years.
Miss Universe 2019 only had 90 contestants in this year's pageant won by South Africa's Zozibini Tunzi.
These pageants also have a proud history of sending their winners on to Miss USA and Miss Universe glory. Miss Texas USA and Miss California USA also rank numbers one and two in terms of the number of winners of their respective pageant who have gone on to win Miss USA
A Miss Texas USA has won nine times, with a streak of five consecutive winners in the 1980's. Miss California Universe has had six women win Miss USA.
Jackson won't be the first out trans woman to ever compete in Miss California Universe. That distinction already belongs to Kylan Wenzel, who competed back in 2013.
But Taj is undaunted by the odds, and proud of the history she is making as the first out Black trans contestant at any Miss Universe system pageant in the US and across the Diaspora..
As Miss Inglewood, Taj is looking for fiscal sponsors as the January 26 date of this Miss California 2020 pageant rapidly approaches.
Good luck to you Taj and here's hoping you make history.
2019 has been been a historic year in the pageant world, and one we won't forget for a long time.
In 2019 all six of the major pageants, Miss Teen USA, Miss USA, Miss America, Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International Queen all crowned Black women as their pageant royalty
The Miss International Queen one based in Thailand is a pageant for transgender women. Harvey was its first ever African descended winner in their 15 year history.
So congrats to Miss Universe 2019 Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa, Miss World 2019 Toni- Ann Singh of Jamaica, Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst, Miss America 2019 Nia Franklin, Miss Teen USA 2019 Kaleigh Garris and Miss International Queen 2019 Jazell Harvey
And two of the women won with natural hair styles in Miss Universe and Miss Tenn USA.
Congrats to all these Black women who have made this a historic year in pageantry and one that has been a long time in coming.
It also drives home the point that Black women are indeed beautiful in all their marvelous shades.
The Miss Universe Pageant system has been open to trans contestants since 2013, but only one trans person, Spain's Angela Ponce, has won her national pageant and made it to the Miss Universe pageant stage.
Since Canada's Jenna Talackova attempt to make it to Miss Universe, other trans women from around the world have entered their national Miss Universe qualifying pageants in Belgium, Mongolia, Puerto Rico, Norway and most recently Chile but failed to capture crowns.
There are some notable Miss Universe pageant nation holdouts such as Venezuela, Mexico and surprisingly Thailand and the Philippines. Those two nations obstinate refusal to do so is even more puzzling considering they are home to major trans beauty pageants.
Another one of those surprising to me holdout nations was France. The Miss France pageant is a popular television event that draws 7.4 million viewers every December. It also has a long history of iconic trans women who called France home during the 50's and 60's
Jacqueline-Charlotte 'Coccinelle' Dufresnoy and Marie-Pier Ysser performed in Paris' legendary Madame Arthur and Le Carousel transgender cabarets along with Britain's April Ashley and later Caroline Cossey.
Dufresnoy not only turned down a lucrative offer to join Bob Hope's touring troupe, she blazed human rights trails for French trans people until her death in 2006.
The national director of the French pageant, Sylvie Tellier, recently conducted an interview with the local Le Parisien newspaper. Sheconfirmed that contestants between 18-25 will no longer have to be AFAB (assigned female at birth) people, and the rules have been changed to reflect this change.
Teller was a former Miss France herself who won the crown in 2002. She has been director since 2007, but believes France is not ready for a trans woman to wear the Miss France crown. She also thinks a trans woman would have little chance of winning the crown.
Au contraire Madame Tellier. Never underestimate what a trans woman can or cannot do. I hope that somewhere in France right now is the trans woman who will make that history and make you eat crow in the process.
When Erin Grinde Tunheim's attempt to win Miss Norway Universe resulted in her finishing as the third runner up in this pageant, with the number of Miss Universe national pageants quickly dwindling, I believed that the international trans community had run out of chances to have another trans beauty walk a Miss Universe pageant stage in 2019.
I wasn't aware until yesterday that we had another trans woman qualify for her national pageant, and this time it wasn't in Europe.
The person who would attempt to make that history was in Chile, and she is 26 year old model Gera Saint Garriga. She won the Miss Santiago title, which punched her ticket to the national pageant held in Punta Arenas that had her competing against 17 other women from across the nation.
Saint Garriga was motivated to do so after seeing Angela Ponce win Miss Spain Universe and compete in last year's Miss Universe in Bangkok. She is proud to not only be the first out trans person person in her nation to qualify for a national Miss Universe pageant, but the first out trans person to do so in South America, Latin America and the Western Hemisphere.
While she made it as one of the five finalists, the Miss Universe Chile crown went to 19 year old Geraldine Gonzalez, who will be Chile's representative at Miss Universe.
Been seeing the memes out there that have proudly pointed out that with only the Miss Universe pageant left to be conducted, Black women in the US have won in succession the Miss Teen USA, Miss America and the Miss USA Universe pageants for the first time ever in the same calendar year.
Major props to 2019 Miss Teen USA winner Kaleigh Garris, Miss America 2019 Nia Franklin and Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst for doing so. They are all accomplished women and I'm exceedingly proud of all of them snatching crowns in the same calendar year.
Even more impressive, Miss Teen USA Kaleigh Garris did so while rocking a natural hair style.
But people are forgetting the fourth Black woman who also made history by winning a major beauty pageant title this year, and she did so back in March.
Jazell Barbie Royale became the first Black women to ever win the Miss International Queen trans pageant in Thailand. Her accomplishment was just as historic as the pother women being celebrated, but once again when it comes to Black Trans excellence, the Black community sadly is ignoring it.
Let me repeat for y'all that Black trans women ARE Black women. When we rise and excel at doing whatever we accomplish, so does the entire Black community.
So what if the Miss International Queen is a pageant for trans women? No Black woman from the African Diaspora had ever won that pageant in its fifteen year history until this year, and it had been 2005 since the last American woman had won it.
So yes, I would like to see it acknowledged that FOUR Black women have won major pageant titles in the same year. If no one else will acknowledge that fact, I damned sure will.
If you're wondering if there will be ever another trans woman gracing the Miss Universe stage in the wake of Spain's Angela Ponce doing so, the answer to that question is maybe.
We have already had two trans women in this Miss Universe 2019 competition cycle attempt to do so in Brazil and Puerto Rico, but neither advanced to their national pageant stages.
Nathalie Oliveira competed in the Miss Rio de Janeiro Universe pageant back in January. While she was a first runner up at the 2016 Miss International Queen trans pageant in Pattaya, Thailand, she failed to advance to the Miss Brazil pageant stage.
The same was the case for Puerto Rico's Daniela Arroyo. She got a callback for the Miss Puerto Rico Universe pageant, but wasn't selected as one of the final 29 contestants.
The latest trans woman who will attempt to win her nation's Miss Universe pageant crown is Norway's Eirin Grinde Tunheim.
The 26 year old is of Thai, Cambodian heritage, and is a dental student who speaks five languages.
She is the first out trans person to make the 12 person field that selects Norway's representative in the Miss Universe Pageant.
The Miss Norway Universe pageant finals will take place in August, and we will learn at that time if Eirin makes history again by becoming the first trans Miss Norway and the second out trans woman to be able to compete in the Miss Universe pageant.
Good luck to Eirin, and hope she does grace the Miss Universe 2019 stage later this year. I also hope she goes farther in the competition and actually makes the 15 semifinalists.
TransGriot Update: Eirin was third runner up in the pageant
'The anti-Black, pro-Asian and pro Miss Tiffany showgirl bias has got to end in order for the Miss International Queen trans pageant to have international credibility with people around the world who are thinking about competing in it.'
-TransGriot, March 2, 2018
Since 2004 the Thailand based Miss International Queen pageant has billed itself as the most prestigious transgender beauty pageant on the planet. It has grown to that status in large part because until recently, trans women were barred from participating in the major pageants systems like Miss World and Miss Universe.
The 2019 edition of the Miss International Queen pageant will be crowning its newest queen in Pattaya on March 8 (March 7 our time).
It also has a dubious distinction that smacks of anti-Blackness.. In the decade plus history of the MIQ pageant, it has NEVER crowned a Black winner.
Two have been first runner up (2011, Miss SaHHara, 2015, Valesca Dominik Ferraz). Stasha Sanchez finished as a second runner up in 2010.
There are peeps, myself included, who still believe Miss SaHHara was robbed of the 2011 MIQ title. The Thai contestant, Sirapassorn Atthayakorn horribly botched her final interview, but STILL shockingly won.
Then again it shouldn't have been a shock, since she like all four Thai MIQ queens, she won the Miss Tiffany's pageant. Tiffany's Cabaret in Pattaya is the host venue for that Thai trans only Miss Tiffany's pageant that produces the Thai rep to MIQ and the Miss International Queen one.
This history of shady MIQ anti-Blackness and favoritism for Miss Tiffany Cabaret showgirls has discouraged many Black trans contestants from even plunking down their hard earned money for entry fees and attempting to make that long trip to Thailand to attempt to snatch that crown.
That shady treatment of Black MIQ contestants is a major reason why I stopped writing posts about this pageant as well.
This year Jazell Barbie Royale is the lone African descended contestant in this 2019 Miss International Queen event. She captured the 2016 Miss Continental title, and is attempting to break that negative MIQ cycle, rep the USA and make some history as its first ever Black winner.
If she does so, she would also become the first American winner since 2005 when Mimi Marks took the MIQ crown.
Wishing you the best of luck, Jazell.
We'll see if Jazell does so, or is just the latest Black contestant to fall victim to the anti-Blackness permeating the Miss International Queen pageant system.
A few weeks ago my sis Joanna Cifredo and I were on the phone catching up with each other about the events that had transpired in our lives since our last conversation. She recently moved back to Puerto Rico to start a youth centered organization there, and after finding out how that was going, our conversation turned to beauty pageants.
It happened in the wake of Angela Ponce's historic week in Bangkok as the first out trans contestant at Miss Universe, and we talked about the Miss Puerto Rico Universe pageant opening their doors to trans participation.
We wondered aloud about the odds that the next girl like us to be a Miss Universe trans contestant could possibly come from Puerto Rico.
We knew Denise Quinones, the 2001 Miss Universe winner and new national director of Miss Universe Puerto Rico, has been vocally supportive of trans women competing in the Miss Universe pageant system
But we wondered if she was serious about taking the next step and actually making space for Puerto Rican trans girls to compete for this title.
Apparently, Quinones wasn't kidding, and our conversation put some positive vibes in the air for it to happen. .
University of Puerto Rico journalism student Daniela Victoria Arroyo announced on her Instagram page that she'd received a call back for the second round of the Miss Puerto Rico Universe pageant contestant search.
What's the significance of that callback? Puerto Rico is considered one of the Miss Universe pageant superpowers in the long history of this contest. .
A Miss Puerto Rico has won the Miss Universe title five times (1970, 1985, 2001, 2003, 2006) ,but its last win came in 2006 when Zulekya Rivera captured the crown.
Rivera is also supportive of trans women being able to compete for the Miss Universe crown.
Quinones wants to change that, and she wants another Puerto Rican Miss Universe titleholder as soon as possible under her watch as the pageant national director.
Arroyo has already made Puerto Rican history. She was part of the group of trans feminine plaintiffs that successfully sued the Puerto Rican government in 2017 for the right to change their names on their birth certificates.
In addition to her university studies, she has also been a fierce advocate for the rights of Puerto Rican trans people.
The question we're all asking is will Daniela Arroyo get that opportunity to compete for Miss Puerto Rico? If she does, can she win the crown on May 26 and make it to the 2019 Miss Universe stage as Puerto Rico's representative?
Congratulations Daniela! Hope you get a shot at making more history.
The date and site for the 2019 Miss Universe pageant has yet to be determined, but Angela Ponce's historic trip to Bangkok to compete in Miss Universe has inspired other trans pageant beauties around the globe to try to make pageant history in their own nations.
One of those is in Brazil.
25 year old Nathalie Oliveira is starting her quest to be on the 2019 Miss Universe stage by competing in the Miss Rio de Janeiro pageant that takes place this weekend on January 26.
It is a preliminary for the Miss Brazil Universe pageant that will take place later this year, and she is the first out Brazilian trans woman who has ever entered this regional pageant.
Oliveira was the winner of the Miss Trans Brazil pageant, and was the first runner up in the 2016 Thailand based Miss International Queen contest. She also has a YouTube channel with over 15,000 subscribers that covers topics that include makeup, travel, and transsexuality
Good luck to Nathy! Here's hoping she gets a step closer to being on the 2019 Miss Universe stage
"What an honor a pride to be part of the history of @missuniverse. This is for you, for those who have no visibility, no voice, because we all deserve a world of respect, inclusion and freedom. And today I am here, proudly representing my nation, all women and human rights." -Angela Ponce
While she wrote those words on her Instagram page in Spanish, they were clearly understood all over the world.
.
The eyes on much of the world were turned to Bangkok and the 2018 Miss Universe Pageant to see if Angela Ponce could become the first ever trans feminine Miss Universe.
And yeah, admit it. Some of you were tearing up like I was when she made that solo walk on the Miss Universe stage last night to a standing ovation. .
Heavy favorite Catriona Gray of the Philippines was one of the last two women standing onstage at Miss World two years ago and didn't win. The 24 year old had a much happier result this time, becoming the fourth Filipina to capture the crown
While Ponce didn't make it to the Top 20 semifinalists, can't say enough how proud I am, trans feminine kids, and trans women around the world are that a girl like us was repping her country and us in the world's premiere beauty pageant.
Yes, elements of you hate on trans feminine women for irrational reasons. Elements of you also hate on beauty pageants for a lot of reasons.
For the trans feminine people who compete in them, pageants are a way to have who we are and have always known ourselves to be affirmed to the entire world.
Many trans feminine pageant contestants have been standing a lot taller this week knowing that a girl like us achieved a dream many of them had to one day compete in a premiere pageant like Miss Universe.
Trans women around the world were also standing a little taller as well.
Angela Ponce shook off the haters and represented us with class and dignity from the moment she won Miss Spain in June to competing in Miss Universe. And while we didn't get to see trans history made on that Bangkok stage last night. it's just a matter of time before some trans girl walks away from a future Miss Universe pageant with the crown.
And note to the willfully ignorant haters out there, trans women are women.
Ponce said in the runup to the pageant, "I don't need to win, I just need to be here."
But by just being in this year's Miss Universe competition and being on stage, you won in so many ways not only for yourself, but an entire community. It also by you being on stage expands the horizons for what trans feminine kids can dare to dream about and accomplish.
Ms. Ponce blazed a trail and set a standard that a future trans Miss Universe winner must acknowledge when she does win that title
