Gabriela Isler, the former Miss Venezuela who was crowned Miss Universe on Saturday, said she does not believe transgender contestants should be allowed to participate in the Miss Universe pageant.
Isler told the Huffington Post on Thursday that transgender beauty queens should be able to compete, but only in certain pageants.
“They should have their own pageant, I think, and maybe they can realize in this pageant, Miss Universe, or the other pageants [were] made for women,” she said. “They are… they have the opportunity, but I think that they have to compete with the same… the same team. Right?”
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The Miss Universe Organization announced in 2012 that it was changing its rules to allow transgender women to take part in all of its competitions beginning in 2013.
The decision by the organization, owned by Donald Trump, came after a controversy ignited when contestant Jenna Talackova, a transgender woman, was disqualified from competing for the title of Miss Universe Canada because she was not a “naturally born female.”
