Miss Italy Contest Makes An Announcement Causing Political Uproar
In an effort to remain true to the nature of the competition, the Miss Italy beauty pageant has announced that biological males are not allowed to compete in its annual contest.
The pageant's Official Patron, Patrizia Mirigliani, told Radio Cusano that the competition would not “jump on the glittery bandwagon of trans activism.”
"Since it was born, my competition has foreseen in its regulation the clarification according to which one must be a woman from birth," Mirigliani added.
The announcement comes after a similar occurrence in the Netherlands, where a trans-identifying male won the Miss Netherlands 2023 crown. Rikki Valerie Kolle, who was a contestant for Miss Nevada earlier this year, was crowned the winner after beating out 9 female contestants to get the title.
The pageant drew criticism from various commentators, who took issue with Kolle's victory.
"A man just won ‘Miss Netherlands’ 2023," Dutch commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek tweeted. “Considering the fact that we live in a post-Truth world, I wasn’t even expecting anything else. It’s all so predictable and unoriginal at this point.”
A man just won “Miss Netherlands” 2023.
Considering the fact that we live in a post-Truth world, I wasn’t even expecting anything else. It’s all so predictable and unoriginal at this point. pic.twitter.com/j6NKo2cCvu
— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) July 9, 2023
Kolle will now represent the Netherlands in the 2023 Miss Universe competition, which is owned by trans-identifying male Ricky Levon Green.
In the United States, the Miss USA pageant invited its first trans-identifying male entrant in 2021. However, it is not to be confused with the Miss United States of America beauty contest, which was ruled in a U.S. appeals court that it could not be forced to admit trans-identifying males as contestants.
Kolle called the Miss Italy decision “so sad” and that such pageants are “missing out” by allowing only biological females to compete.
The exclusion of trans-identifying males in beauty contests has been a source of controversy for many years. While some have argued that it creates a level playing field for biological females, others have said it is exclusionary and discriminatory.
The Miss Italy beauty pageant has made it clear that it will adhere to its policy of not allowing biological males to compete in its annual pageant. Whether this decision proves to be popular or not remains to be seen.
Miss Italy bans transgender contestants, must be a woman from birth: 'Will not jump on the glittery bandwagon of trans activism'https://t.co/IWHAkR4XXW
— YAF (@yaf) July 21, 2023