Fuschia Anne Ravena. Image: Armin P. Adina/INQUIRER.net
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Miss Universe pageant has welcomed two transgender delegates for its ongoing edition in El Salvador, and the development is supported by Fuschia Anne Ravena, the third Miss International Queen winner from the Philippines.
“I’m so happy that Miss Universe opened an opportunity for us, because we express ourselves really as women, we are women deep in our hearts. So, I don’t see any problem with it,” she told INQUIRER.net at the sidelines of the preliminary competition of the 2023 Hiyas ng Pilipinas pageant held at the Toledo City Sports Center (Megadome) on Wednesday, Nov. 8. She was one of the judges, along with reigning Mister Universe Tourism Erik Visser.
Ravena captured her international title last year, giving the Philippines a third victory in the Thailand-based global tilt for transgender women, following Kevin Balot in 2012 and Trixie Maristela in 2015.
Fuschia Anne Ravena. Image: Armin P. Adina/INQUIRER.net
“I’m happy because the Netherlands just won Miss International Queen this year. So, it just happened that also the Miss Universe Netherlands is also a transgender woman. I’m happy!” shared Ravena, who relinquished her crown to Dutch beauty Solange Dekker.
Dekker, a model and hairdresser, also joined the Miss Universe Netherlands pageant in 2021. The national title this year went to Rikkie Kolle, who is in El Salvador now for the 72nd Miss Universe pageant, with another European transgender woman, Marina Machete from Portugal.
The Miss Universe Organization (MUO) started accepting transgender women in 2012 when then owner Donald Trump allowed the participation of model Jenna Talackova in the Miss Universe Canada pageant. But the first trans woman to score a national crown was Spain’s Angela Ponce, who competed with 2018 Miss Universe Catriona Gray.
Since then, Kolle and Machete have been the only two transgender women to make it on the international stage. They will compete against 83 other women in the 2023 Miss Universe pageant in San Salvador, including the Philippines’ Michelle Marquez Dee, a model, host, actress and pageant veteran, who is from a family of international titleholders.
When asked what she wants to tell those who still oppose the MUO’s decision allowing transgender women, more than a decade since its first implementation, Ravena replied, “I’m, sorry!” with a knowing smile on her face.
The transgender queen said she is taking acting lessons and plans to pursue a career in show business as an actress in the near future.