The first transgender woman has been selected to compete in the next Miss Universe Puerto Rico pageant.
According to the Associated Press, Daniela Arroyo González, the co-founder of the Puerto Rico Trans Youth Coalition, will be one of the 39 contestants representing the island for a shot at the crown. This was her second attempt to make the cut. The winner of the Miss Universe Puerto Rico pageant will represent Puerto Rico in the global Miss Universe pageant.
“The emotion and pride that I feel in this moment overwhelms me with joy,” Arroyo said in a video she posted on Instagram. “It’s time to show how far we can go. This is my time.” González also wrote “Let’s make history together!” as a caption for the video.
In 2018, González won a federal lawsuit against the government of Puerto Rico to give transgender people the right to change their gender on their official birth certificate. “The right to identify our own existence lies at the heart of one’s humanity,” wrote Judge Carmen Consuelo. “And so, we must heed their voices: ‘The woman that I am,’ ‘The man that I am.’”
On their official Instagram page, organizers from Miss Universe Puerto Rico said that González “wishes to live in a less polarized society, where differences can be appreciated and embraced as something positive that unites, instead of something that separates.”
Congratulations to Daniela Arroyo González for this incredible honor. Trans women are women, and we look forward to rooting for her when the Miss Universe Puerto Rico pageant comes around later this year.