Though the
Miss USA pageant, no longer affiliated with Donald Trump and different than the
Miss America pageant, has allowed trans contestants to compete for nearly a
decade, this is the first time a trans woman has advanced to the final
competition (a Spanish trans woman, Angela Ponce, competed in the Miss Universe pageant in 2018).
“It hasn’t hit
me yet. We just made history, and I don’t know how that feels. It was part of
my goal, part of my dream,” Enriquez told the Las Vegas Sun.
Enriquez, a
native of the Philippines, moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when she was 10.
She's lived in Las Vegas for a little over a year, where she works as a health
care administrator, specializing in LGBTQ+ patients and care. An accomplished
designer, Enriquez created her gowns for the Miss Nevada competition — which
included a rainbow Pride dress — and will do the same for Miss USA.
Now crowned
Miss Nevada, Enriquez will lend her voice and time to the LGBTQIA Center of
Southern Nevada and Las Vegas TransPride, specifically advocating for victims
of abuse.
Activists see
Enriquez's victory, and her comfortable embrace of her identity, as a huge boon
for trans youth with too few role models.
“I love that
Miss USA and the organization is open and accepting of all kinds of women,”
Enriquez said. “I am a woman, this is my experience, and this is who I am. [My
win] wasn’t necessarily focused on me being trans; it was my special gift if
anything.”
The 2021 Miss
USA pageant will be held November 29 in Tulsa, Okla.
SOURCE: ADVOCATE
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