The beauty pageant Miss Italy (Miss Italia) has stated that contestants must be “a woman from birth,” thereby banning biological males who identify as transgender from the competition.
Patrizia Mirigliani, the official patron of the competition, told radio station Radio Cusano that the standard has not changed since the competition’s inception, reported Italian news outlet Il Primato Nazionale.
“Ever since it was born, the competition includes in its regulation the clarification that you have to be a woman from birth. Probably because, even then, it was expected that in the future beauty could undergo changes, or that women could undergo modifications, or that men could become women,” she said.
She said that to attract media attention, beauty contests nowadays are using strategies she believes are “a little absurd,” adding that Miss Italy “will not jump on the glittery bandwagon of trans activism.”
Ms. Mirigliani noted that Miss Italy has loosened its standards over the years, such as allowing women to compete even if they have tattoos or piercings or hair extensions.
“It’s all part of the new way of talking about women, but we try not to facilitate everything that is excessive to accentuate the aesthetics. Excesses are not good,” she said.
Her remarks come after the beauty pageant Miss Netherlands on July 8 awarded the title to a contestant who identifies as transgender—the first such contestant to win the title. Rikkie Valerie Kollé, 22, will represent the Netherlands at the Miss Universe 2023 pageant, which is expected to be hosted by El Salvador.
“If Miss Holland thought it appropriate to include [people who identify as transgender] I am happy for them,” Ms. Mirigliani said in separate remarks, adding that rules for Miss Italy would not change for now, reported Huffington Post Italy.
Miss Italy is not related to Miss Universe Italy, which is a separate pageant that selects the Italian representative for the Miss Universe pageant.
Mr. Kollé will be the second openly transgender person to compete in the Miss Universe pageant—the first competitor who identified as transgender was Angela Ponce in 2018, who won the title of Miss Spain.
