Catriona Gray says she’s fine competing with a transwoman in Miss Universe

Gray said this when she was asked in an interview with ABS-CBN on Tuesday, July 3, about Angela Ponce, the first-ever transgender woman who was crowned as Miss Universe-Spain. (Photo: Catriona Gray/Facebook)

It is not a big deal for Catriona Gray, the Philippines’ bet for this year’s Miss Universe pageant, if she will be competing with a transgender woman.

Gray said this when she was asked in an interview with ABS-CBN on Tuesday, July 3, about Angela Ponce, the first-ever transgender woman who was crowned as Miss Universe-Spain.

“Personally, I have no problem with it. But I do understand why there is quite an uproar amongst all the fans and different people looking at the issue because it is a very young discussion about the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) and especially coming from a traditional in the arena of pageantry,” she said.

According to Gray, it is the Miss Universe Organization and Spain that will decide if they will let Ponce compete in the prestigious beauty pageant.

“If that contestant who may be transgender can go through the casting process, become a candidate, get judging, and earn the right to represent her country, then why not?” the beauty queen said.

“Who are we to say, ‘You know that’s wrong.’ I mean it’s the discretion talaga of the organization,” she continued.

When asked what she feels about those who are saying that transwomen should not compete in the Miss Universe pageant, Gray responded, “We also need to consider… is that this contestant did not wake up saying ‘I wanna be a woman.’ This is someone who she’s identified to be as a child. So in her inner being, she is a woman.”

If Gray was given a chance to talk to Ponce, whom she does not see ‘differently’ from other candidates, she said she would want to know about Ponce’s personal experience on the battlefront of being a transgender woman.

“I think iba eh (it is different,) if it’s a personal experience that you had people personally come up to you or people tell you things and put it together your understanding of the topic. I would love to hear that from her so I could understand her side,” she stressed.

It was in April 2012 when the Miss Universe Organization ended its ban on transgender candidates.