Angela Ponce- Miss Universe National Costume Contest

Getting closer to the live televised Miss Universe pageant, but the preliminary contest will happen on December 13. 

All 94 contestants will participate in evening wear, swimsuit and an interview portion in front of judges.   The scores they earn during that portion will determine who the 20 semifinalists will be competing on Sunday. 

On December 10 the National Costume Show was held.  It's a Miss Universe tradition in which all 94 delegates get to choose a national costume that best represents the culture of their nation. 

Y'all know I'm rooting for Angela.   Here she is repping Spain



If you wish to watch the entire show, have the video here for you pageant junkies.

US and Canadian Conservafools Are Hating On Angela Ponce

We're two weeks away from crowning a new Miss Universe 2018, and the conservafools are tripping because of Miss Spain-Universe Angela Ponce not only being in this year's competition, but being considered one of the favorites to take the crown.

Hate on, transphobic conservahaters.   And yeah, we know through your trans hate speech that you're definitely nervous about the prospect of Ponce actually being crowned Miss Universe.

They recognize the importance of Ponce competing as the first out trans contestant in what is considered the world's most prestigious beauty pageant   The conservafools in Canada and the US are throwing every lie and falsehood about trans people out there they can in their media outlets and hoping it sticks in the larger media universe.

Ponce, to her credit has been what she always has been, classy in the face of transphobic ignorance.  It's rumored that Ponce will be roommates in Bangkok with Miss Colombia-Universe Valeria Morales, and reached out to her after she made those transphobic comments.

Hey, if that's true, she's better than me in this situation.  Knowing how shady pageants can get, I wouldn't trust home girl, much less want to be in the same room with somebody who publicly made disparaging remarks about me.

Ponce stated in a recent TIME magazine interview that if she won, it would be a sharp rebuke to the anti-trans ignorance the Trump misadministration is trying to install at the federal government
level.

"More than a message to him, it would be a win for human rights. Trans women have been persecuted and erased for so long. If they give me the crown, it would show trans women are just as much women as cis women."

She also said in that TIME interview,"I’m showing that trans women can be whatever they want to be: a teacher, a mother, a doctor, a politician and even Miss Universe."

No matter what happens, she will always be in the history books as the first out Miss Universe trans contestant, and probably won't be the last.   

Ponce competing in Miss Universe has generated excitement not only in our international trans community, but pageant buzz that will probably translate into higher ratings for the live broadcast from Bangkok on December 16.


And yes, I'm hoping she wins for another reason.   Lauren Foster was outed by a jealous cis model when Foster was poised to compete in the Miss Universe South Africa pageant back in the 80's.

How delicious would it be if the current Miss Universe Demi- Leigh Nel-Peters, who is from South Africa, crowned Angela Ponce as her successor? 

Angela's Headed To Miss Universe 2018!

"I’m competing because it’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl. I’m showing that trans women can be whatever they want to be: a teacher, a mother, a doctor, a politician and even Miss Universe."-Angela Ponce

Miss Spain Universe Angela Ponce is headed to Thailand to hopefully make more history.

The 27 year old has already done so as the first out trans woman ever to win a national Miss Universe pageant, and is seeking to become the first trans winner of the 67th edition of the world's most prestigious beauty pageant when it is held in Bangkok on December 17.

She's had some loud transphobic haters, like Miss Colombia Universe 2018 Valeria Morales and Lupita Jones, the head of the Miss Mexico Universe organization.   But Ponce also has her supporters in Spain, the Miss Universe Spain organization, others within the Miss Universe pageant world such as Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, and Miss Philippines Universe 2018 Catriona Gray.

Most importantly, her family and her trans family around the planet support her as well.

She's headed to Thailand now because there is a preliminary portion of the pageant that whittles down the  94 delegates to the sixteen contestants you'll see on stage during the live broadcast once again hosted by Steve Harvey and Ashley Graham

Safe travels Angela and good luck to you during the Miss Universe 2018 pageant! 

Miss Universe Mexico Head Lupita Jones Hatin' On Trans Women

Hasn't even been a week yet and another Latin American pageant queen besides Miss Colombia opens her pretty mouth to let something ugly and transphobic come out of it.

This time it was Lupita Jones, who won the Miss Universe title in 1991 and was the first Mexican woman to do so.   She now runs the Miss Universe pageant franchise in Mexico and by her remarks, made it clear that if she had it her way, Mexican trans women wouldn't be eligible to compete for the Miss Mexico Universe or Miss Universe titles.

Jones made her transphobic remarks during a televised event celebrating the opening of the new season of Teatro en Corto in Mexico City. 

"As head of Miss Universe in Mexico, I have to bide by the rules of the organization.  But on a personal level, I disagree, because I don't think we are under equal conditions,  A woman that was born one will never be like a transgender woman.   Biologically they are not the same."

 Oh really Miss Thang?   And what 'equal conditions' are you babbling about?

Some of your Miss Universe pageant cis women are surgically enhanced.   Don't even try to push that narrative that only trans women get surgery.   Miss Universe pageant rules not only allow surgery, but allow you if you wish to not disclose the fact you did so.  Miss Brazil Universe 2001 Juliana Borges admitted she'd had 19 surgeries in the runup to that 2001 pageant, and it's been suspected that Venezuela's rise as a Miss Universe powerhouse is plastic surgery fueled

Something else you need to educate yourself about is the increasing international transgender research conducted by Dr Eric Vilain at UCLA and others that are in conflict with your facts free opinion.  Medical evidence emphatically points out that the brains of trans and cis women are similar in structure. 

And let me make this next point in your native tongue so there is no misunderstanding concerning the point I wish to get across.

Mujeres trans son mujeres.

Some of the most gorgeous trans women I have met during my time in this community come from Mexico. 

In the short history by comparison to Miss Universe of the Thailand based Miss International Queen transgender pageant, one of those Mexican born trans women, Erica Andrews, captured the 2006 crown.

Jones kept digging the hole she was in by saying the Miss Universe contest is 'not for them," but then trying to claim in the same breath that she supported the trans  human rights struggle.

Your comments suggest you don't, and it's why you're getting dragged across the Net for it.

As you pointed out before you went on your transphobic rant, the competition rules for Miss Universe say otherwise.  Since Ximena Navarrete was in 2010 the last Mexican woman to win Miss Universe, you may wish to consider sending one of Mexico's trans women to rep y'all on the Miss Universe stage.

Lupita, miss me with that transphobic BS. 

Will There Be A Second Trans Miss Universe Contestant?

Trans women have been eligible to compete for the Miss Universe crown since 2013, but it took until this year for one of our sisters to snatch a crown and qualify for the big show in Spain's Angela Ponce.

There's the possibility she might be joined by another trans Miss Universe contestant from Mongolia

The first ever Miss Mongolia Universe pageant is taking place this year, and one of the fourteen contestants vying for the inaugural crown is 25 year old Solongo Batsukh.



She competed earlier this year for the Miss International Queen title in Pattaya. Wouldn't it be nice if she got to go back to Thailand as the reigning and first ever Miss Universe Mongolia? 

We won;t find out until October 17 if that happens for her, and I hope it does.   I'm sure Miss Universe Spain Angela Ponce wouldn't mind having another trans woman on that Miss Universe stage with her.

TransGriot Update:  It didn't happen for her.  27 year old Dolgion Delgerjav was crowned as the first ever Miss Mongolia Universe.   Since Solongo is only 25, she still has two years to make it happen.  

Miss Colombia Universe 2018 Hatin' On Angela Ponce

Was wondering how long it would take before one of the Miss Universe 2018 contestants opened her pretty mouth and let something horribly transphobic ooze out of it.

That contestant turned out to be Miss Colombia Universe 2018 Valeria Morales. 

The 20 year old Morales made some TERFy remarks aimed at Miss Spain Universe winner Angela Ponce, who was crowned back in July,   When Ponce steps on that Miss Universe stage in Bangkok on December 17, will make history in as the first ever out trans contestant in the pageant's history.

But Morales threw a catty remark at her in a recent Colombian television interview that has gone viral.

"I think that beauty shows like Miss Universe should be for women who are born women, and I think it would be a disadvantage for Ponce too. Therefore, we should respect her but not share it with her," Morales said

Ugh, there's that transphobic 'women born women' line again    How do you say 'trans women are women' en Espanol?

Colombia is also part of the group of national Miss Universe pageant orgs that bars trans women from competing despite the Miss Universe system rules that since 2013,  have allowed them to compete if they qualify. 

While Ponce hasn't directly commented yet about Morales' remarks, she did have this to say several weeks ago concerning folks who are salty about her participation in this year's Miss Universe pageant.

“I would like to tell them [critics] that I am a woman. I am a trans woman and I have the right to be there. So I ask them to respect it because the rules allow me to participate,” she said.

Morales in the wake of the international dragging she's getting, seems to be changing her tune about Ponce's  participation in the pageant. 

"If Miss Universe accepts Angela, I will accept her with love and respect."

Well Ms Morales, that what you should have done before you opened your mouth and inserted those pumps in it. 

We'll see in a few weeks at Miss Universe 2018 if your deeds match your words. 

Ponce is already a winner in exhibiting the one characteristic of a pageant queen you failed to demonstrate in that televised interview. 

Class.

Miss America 2019 Says Trans Women Should Be Allowed To Compete

Today was the day 35 years ago that Vanessa Williams, who repped New York state, was crowned as the first ever Black Miss America back in 1983.

The 92nd annual competition took place in Atlantic City, NJ on September 9.  This year's newly crowned Miss America, like the trailblazing Williams, is also a Black woman repping New York state in 25 year old Nia Imani Franklin.

Franklin is the ninth Black woman to wear the Miss America crown, and she was recently asked her thoughts during a The Clay Cane Show interview concerning whether trans feminine contestants should be allowed to compete for the Miss America title.

Y'all know what my thoughts are concerning that question.   Here's what Ms. Franklin had to say about it:

"That’s something I haven’t given a lot of thought to. I could see the organization may be going into a different direction in the future, but at this time our goal is just to focus on women who want to further their education.” 

She continued, “If trans women want to compete I think they should be able to — that’s not something I think we are really putting too much emphasis on as far as, ‘Are you trans? Check this box’ when you compete. When I competed, in my application, there was nothing that asked me if I was a trans woman or not, so we’re definitely not discriminating.”

Yes, you are when the pageant has a rule that states only 'natural born women', whatever in the hell that means, can compete in the Miss America system.  

The Miss Universe system has had since 2012 allowed trans women to compete, and later this year in Bangkok we will finally witness a trans woman competing for the Miss Universe crown in Spain's Angela Ponce. 

But the 98 year old Miss America system, despite moves to modernize the pageant and make it more relevant to 21st century life, like ditching the swimsuit competition for a current events Q&A, still bans trans women from competing.

But glad to hear the current Miss America titleholder thinks trans women who fit the pageant's eligibility requirements should be allowed to compete for this prestigious crown.

And I hope that change happens sooner rather than later.

Trans Puerto Ricans Can Compete In Miss Puerto Rico Universe

The Miss Puerto Rico Universe is one of the most competitive pageantry titles on the island.   It also has since 1970 produced five Miss Universe winners in Marisol Malaret, Deborah Carthy-Deu (1985), Dayanara Torres (1993), Denise Quinones (2001) and Zulekya Rivera (2006).

While the Miss Universe pageantry system since 2013 has allowed trans women to compete,  Puerto Rico along with Venezuela, the Philippines and surprisingly Thailand have been among the holdout organizations among the perennial Miss Universe contender nations barring trans women from competing.

But in the wake of a t positive federal court decision earlier this year from US District Judge Carmen Consuelo Cerezo that allows trans Puerto Ricans to update their gender markers, and Angela Ponce's breakthrough win in the Miss Universe Spain pageant, that's changing.

Quinones, took over as the new Miss Puerto Rico Universe pageant director in March and has long been an advocate for trans women being allowed to compete. 

She announced during a pageant registration event taking place on the same day that trans Puerto Ricans were allowed to change their gender markers,  that trans women would be allowed to compete in the Miss Puerto Rico Universe pageant starting in 2019.

Like other contestants, trans Puerto Ricans who are ages 18-27, have changed their documentation and wish to compete in the pageant either must be born on the island,  have one parent who is Puerto Rican or ha lived on the island for 10 years or more, will be allowed to compete for the title.

We'll have to wait until 2019 to see if any trans contestants enter Miss Puerto Rico Universe.  Time will tell if there will be a trans Miss Puerto Rico that wins the title, and goes on to compete at Miss Universe and bring another crown back to the island.

A Trans Woman Is Crowned Miss Universe Spain!

Transgender women have been eligible since 2012 to compete for the Miss Universe title.  It has taken a few years, but when the 2018 edition of the pageant takes place, it is going to have more attention than usual because there will finally be a trans contestant vying for the crown.

And nope, she won't be from the Philippines or Thailand.

25 year old Angela Ponce from Spain will be the trans woman making that history.   She captured the Miss Universe Spain crown Saturday night, beating 20 other beauties for the crown.

This isn't the first time Ponce has attempted to represent Spain by winning one of the Big Four international pageant titles. 

In 2015 she competed in the Miss World Spain pageant after capturing the title from her home region of Cadiz, Spain but was unsuccessful in doing so.

When Miss Universe 2018 finally happens later this year, there will probably be a larger than usual viewing audience checking it out. 

I can also guarantee that trans women from around the world, where we compete in the pageant world or not, will be tuned in to Miss Universe to cheer Angela on.

BTAC 2018 - Day 3

The big event today is the 2018 Mr and Miss Black Trans International Pageant later tonight

Mr.Black Trans International 2017 Trenton Johnson and Miss Black Trans International Tiffany Starr will crown their successors from the group of contestants vying for their crowns.

While those contestants are undergoing another step to hopefully snatching the BTIPS crowds with their interviews, the seminar tracks continue.

As those of you who got to see the live feeds witnessed, the Trans Manifest Live was off the chain.  It gets better and better every year, and next year I'm coming with some original poetry

At noon we also have another highly anticipated event with the BTAC 2018 Empowerment Keynote Luncheon

The Black Transmen, Inc Keynote speaker this year will be Jonathan Thunderword, and the Black Transwomen, Inc .Keynote speaker is Diamond Stylz.

At 2:00 PM we pick up with Part 2 of the Black Trans Community Summit in which we will have a chance to talk with the Dallas PD's LGBTQ Liasion Amber Roman as past of the discussion on Dating, Love and anti-Trans Violence.

If will be followed by the pageant at 8 PM to crown the new Mr. and Miss Black Trans 2018.

And oh yeah, Happy Birthday Tiffany Starr!

The Miss International Queen Pageant STILL Has An Anti-Blackness Problem

"I said this on the MIQ FB page and I will repeat it   If the Miss International Queen Pageant is going to claim it's an international trans pageant and wants to have ANY international credibility in the trans pageant world as a fair pageant, from this point forward it is imperative that an international panel of judges be assembled to determine the winner and make sure that any Thai judges that are part of the panel have no ties to Tiffany's show or are severely limited."-TransGriot, November 4, 2011 


Another edition of the Miss International Queen Pageant has kicked off in the Thai resort city of Pattaya and I predict that when the pageant has concluded on March 9 Thai time, a trans girl with dark skin will NOT be the winner of it.

Since the pageant started in 2004. no trans woman with African heritage or dark skin has won this pageant. 

The few times this has come close to happening or an African descended trans women has even placed in the MIQ event top three was in 2010, when the USA's Stasha Sanchez finished as the second runner up, 2011 when Miss SaHHara repping Nigeria finished as the first runner up (and should have won it), and in 2015 when Brazil's Valesca Dominik Ferraz also finished as a first runner up.

The 2011 MIQ pageant was the most controversial one.   Miss SaHHara, representing Nigeria, was presumed by many people, especially after the Thai finalist horribly botched her final interview to be the person that would finally make that history. 

But people in Thailand watching on live TV, in the Tiffany's Theater in Pattaya and around the world on the online feed were shocked when the Thai contestant still won despite blowing the interview. 

That ignited a firestorm of criticism and gave credibility to the allegations brought by Thai and Philippine contestants there was not only an anti-Black bias from the all-Thai judging panel, but an anti-Filipina one as well..

In 2015 Brazilian beauty Valesca Dominik Ferraz almost broke the color line in this pageant, but just as Miss SaHHara had done four years earlier, she wound up as the first runner up to Trixie Maristela of the Philippines. 

What I wrote back in 2011 when I blasted the Miss International Queen pageant about that shady 2011 result is sadly still valid today.   Out of the 12 winners of the Miss International Queen title, eight of them have been from Asia,  and four of the eight Asian winners have been Thai. 

Also to add another things that make you go hmm layer to this, all four Thai winner have worked as Tiffany's cabaret showgirls.   Tiffany's BTW, is one of the sponsors of this pageant. 

The other Asian MIQ winners have been from Japan, South Korea and two from the Philippines.

The other four contestants non Asians who have won the Miss International Queen pageant title have come from South America (Brazil and Colombia) and North America (US and Mexico) 

It's obvious that the Miss International Queen pageant has an anti-Blackness problem, and the immediate fix for that is to have an international panel of judges that doesn't have ties to Miss Tiffany's Cabaret.

And when I say an international panel of judges, I don't mean just grabbing judges from other parts of Asia because that won't fix the glaring anti-Black bias problem.   Y'all still have a continent wide problem in Asia of considering white skin as the penultimate in beauty.

It's why the Miss Universe pageant not only has a diverse judging panel, that panel also includes former titleholders because what is considered beautiful is different in different corners of the world, and yeah Miss International Queen, dark skinned women are beautiful as well. 

If this pageant is going to claim that it is the premiere international pageant for transgender women, some of those trans women are going to be dark skinned ones with African heritage. 

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.

Because no one is going to travel halfway around the world or put their hard earned money towards entering a pageant that they believe is unfairly rigged or they won't have a shot at winning because the judges are biased against them.

Paula Oliveira Becomes First Trans Miss Bum Bum Contestant

One of the most interesting pageants that happens in Brazil is the Miss BumBum one.

It started in 2011, and has women from each of Brazil's 27 states vying for the title of having Brazil's best derriere.  People from all over the world can vote for their favorite.  The finalists then participate in a photoshoot and strutting down a catwalk before the winner is declared.

The contest is so popular that the winner and the runner up becomes an instant celebrity in that nation, and it can also lead to lucrative endorsement deals.

The stakes are high, and the pageant has fueled controversy.  Fights have broken out between contestants during past events.    In 2014 models Mari Sousa and Eliana Amaral were accused of bribing judges in their failed attempt to come in first and second place in the contest that Indianara Carvalho and Claudia Alende eventually captured as the champion andvice champion.

Also in 2014, 2012 Miss Bum Bum runner up and cosmetic surgery advocate Andressa Urach ended up in the hospital suffering from near fatal septic shock after the 500ml of Pmma and hydrogel pumped in her upper thighs to make them look thicker instead started rotting the upper leg muscles to the point she had to undergo emergency surgery to get the fluid drained. 

But in the last year of this competition, it makes history.  This year, one of the Miss Bum Bum contestants for the first time is a trans woman in the person of  27 year old Paula Oliveira.

The model had to wait two years for her documentation changes to be approved and processed before she could compete.   She's a former Big Brother Brazil contestant who in an attempt to get a jump on the competition, posted a racy photo shoot on her Instagram page focused on her derriere

A serriere she hopes that will be crowned the best in Brazil.

Because this is the last ever Miss Bum Bum pageant,  Paula will also be the last trans woman who has a shot at winning the title. 

We'll see if that happens for her.

5th Annual Miss Trans Star International Pageant

While we're waiting for the first trans contestant to walk a Miss Universe stage, in the interim we pageant junkies do have several international trans pageants to watch and root for our sisters who are competing in them around the world.

We still have several national Miss Universe organizations (Mexico, Venezuela) that even though the parent Miss Universe organization's rules allows qualified trans women who are 18-27 to enter and compete, they transphobically refuse to allow trans entrants.

The longest running trans pageant open to international contestants with international recognition has been the Thailand based Miss International Queen one that I've covered on these TransGriot electronic pages.  The Thais also have the Miss Tiffany pageant for Thai trans women only that happens in May.  

In the pageant happy Philippines, there's not only the local and regional trans pageants that model and advocate Geena Rocero once competed in as a tennager, but the Amazing Philippine Beauties national one.  There are also other national trans pageants that are popping up in various nations around the globe.

In the United States, we have the prestigious Miss Continental Pageant that has been around since it was founded by Jim Flint in 1980 and just concluded its annual Labor Day weekend competition to crown its new queen yesterday.

Miss International Queen one has been around since 2004 and currently has the most international acclaim and news coverage since that time.  It has become a sought after title for trans women around the globe.  But with increasing criticism of its all Thai judges panel that got louder after a controversial 2011 end to it, exacerbated by the fact there has never been an African descended girl win Miss International Queen, much less a dark skinned beauty period, I'm not surprised that other international trans pageants are popping up in different parts of the world.

One of those new trans pageants is the now five year old Barcelona based Miss Trans Star International Pageant.  It came up on my radar last year because my Brazilian homegirl Aleikasandria Barros was competing in it last year and finished as the first runner up.

Aleika's disappointment at not walking away with that title didn't last long.  In December she captured the Miss Trans Universe title that was held in Italy.

This fifth anniversary version of it will be taking place September 16-17, and one of the 28 women entered in the 2016 edition of this pageant is another one of my international trans homegirls in Miss SaHHara.   She'll be representing her birth nation of Nigeria, and she was the runner up at Miss International Queen in 2011.

Well, you know I'll have my eye on this upcoming pageant.   Best of luck to my sis Miss SaHHara and all the women competing in Barcelona for this title.