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Spanish model makes history as first trans woman crowned Miss Universe

Angela Ponce won Miss Universe Spain at the weekend and becomes the first transgender woman to compete in the global beauty pageant.

Published: 4 July 2018 10:32 CEST
Spanish model makes history as first trans woman crowned Miss Universe
Angela Ponce is the first transexual woman to compete in Miss Universe. Photo: BeMiss

The 27-year-old beat 22 fellow contestants to claim the Miss Universe Spain crown in the Spanish city of Tarragona last Friday.

Her win grants Ponce a place to compete in the worldwide Miss Universe contest set to be held in Philippines in December 2018.

Ponce who was born in Pilar, a village near Seville was crowned Miss Cadiz in 2015 after competing in the coastal city where she spent her summers.

READ MORE: Miss Spain hopeful aims for beauty pageant history as first transgender

Explaining why she wanted to compete in the ultimate beauty queen competition rather than the equivalent Miss International Queen which is held for trans women, she told El Pais:

“I appreciate that there are contests like that, of course. But I am Angela, I am a person, I am a woman and, within the range of diversity of what it is to be a woman, I am a transsexual woman. I want to be me and that people respect me as such.

“It is the same as if a gypsy woman was told that she cannot participate in Miss Universe because she has to do it in a contest exclusively for gypsies. Why? I've never been a man, in my DNA I was a woman before I was born.”

“Let’s make history,” Ponce wrote in a message on Twitter tagging Pride Month to note her win’s timing at the end of June.

“Bringing the name and colors of Spain before the universe is my great dream,” wrote Ponce in Spanish on Instagram. 

“My goal is to be a spokesperson for a message of inclusion, respect and diversity not only for the LGBTQ+ community, but also for the entire world,” she wrote.

Watch her competition highlights:

READ ALSO: The ultimate guide to Madrid Pride 2018

TRANSGENDER

Spain backs bill to allow transgender people to easily change gender and name on ID

Spain's left-wing government on Tuesday approved a draft bill that would allow any transgender person over 16 to change their gender and name on their official ID document by presenting a simple statement.

Published: 29 June 2021 16:48 CEST
Spain backs bill to allow transgender people to easily change gender and name on ID
Photo: Jose Jordán/AFP

If adopted by parliament, the bill will make Spain one of the few countries in Europe to permit gender self-determination.

“We’ve approved a bill which will guarantee real and effective equality for trans people and will ensure important rights for LGBTI people that are currently being violated in our country,” said Equality Minister Irene Montero during a press conference.

According to a draft of the bill seen by AFP, any Spaniard over 16 “will be able to apply to change the sex of their entry in the civil registry office”.

They will also be able to change their given name.

Crucially, the change will be made on the basis of a simple statement, dropping a previous requirement for them to first submit medical reports or undergo hormonal treatment.

Unveiled during Madrid’s Pride Week, the bill could even allow those as young as 14 to make the change, but only under certain conditions.

“During this Pride Week, we are making history with a law that will take a giant step forward for LGBTI rights and particularly the rights of transgender people,” Montero said.

“We recognise the right for self-determination of gender identity and undertake ‘de-pathologisation’ meaning trans people will no longer be considered ill and won’t be required to have any kind of psychiatric or medical report in order to be recognised,” she said.

But the legislation sparked tensions between Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists and their hard-left junior coalition partner Podemos.

Earlier this year, deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo said she was “particularly concerned by the idea gender could be chosen on the basis of will alone, thereby jeopardising the identity… of the rest of Spain’s 47 million inhabitants”.

The two sides eventually agreed to include a cooling-off period following presentation of the application, with the applicant required to reconfirm their wish three months later.

“This law puts us at the forefront in Europe in terms of recognising the rights of LGBTI people and particularly of trans people,” Montero said.

According to the LGBTI group ILGA, at least 25 UN member states “allow for legal gender recognition without prohibitive requirements.”

But only around 15 countries allow transgender people to change their status on the basis of a simple declaration.

In some countries, the process can take years and may include requirements such as a psychiatric diagnosis, hormone treatment, gender reassignment surgery or even sterilisation.

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