Spain’s transsexual Miss Universe candidate calls for

“respect” after attacks

The Spanish model says she wants to meet Miss Colombia
despite her comments that the “pageant is for women who are
born women”
Spain’s transsexual Miss Universe candidate Ángela
Ponce has responded to criticism from Colombia’s beauty
queen Valeria Morales that the pageant is “for women who
are born women.”
“I will never try to change her opinion, that’s not my role,”
Ponce wrote via an Instagram post on Friday. “My goal is to
make people aware of my reality and to talk a little to the
world about the lack of education on diversity, an important
factor that without doubt leads to so much bullying,
prejudices and violence.”
Morales, who was named Miss Colombia on September 30,
slammed the fact that the Spanish choice for the upcoming
competition is transsexual.
“I believe that a beauty pageant like Miss Universe is for
women who are born women,” she said in front of TV
cameras at the weekend after winning her crown. “And I
believe that for her it will also be a disadvantage, and so we’ll
have to respect it but not agree with it.”
But the Spanish beauty queen said she did not want to let
Morales’ comments affect her experience at Miss Universe,
which will be held in December in Thailand. “I respect her
and I respect that that is her opinion, but I don’t want to go to
Miss Universe with any prejudice against her or any other
colleague,” said the model from Seville. “I want to have a
lovely experience and if she wants to get to know me, I would
also like to get to know her.”