An openly transgender woman will compete in the Miss USA pageant for the first time this year, after being crowned Miss Nevada last weekend.
Kataluna Enriquez (27) will represent the western US state at the national competition in November after her groundbreaking win in Las Vegas on Sunday 27 June 2021.
Kataluna Enriquez, who is of Filipino descent, began competing in transgender beauty pageants in 2016 and entered a cisgender competition for the first time last year.
During the Miss Nevada pageant, Enriquez – who designs and sews her own outfits – spoke out about the harassment and violence she faced.
The winner of the Miss USA pageant progresses to the Miss Universe pageant – formerly owned by Donald Trump.
Miss Universe changed its rules in 2012 to allow transgender beauty queens to enter, after previously citing a rule that only “naturally born” women could compete.
If Kataluna Enriquez reaches the Miss Universe pageant, she will be the competition’s second transgender competitor, after Spain’s Angela Ponce in 2018.
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