Señorita Panama, the pageant that decides the country’s representative to the Miss Universe pageant, has announced that transgender women who “have completed all their legal and medical procedures” can take part in its competition starting this year.
Señorita Panama’s move actually only recognizes all women officially legally recognized in the country. By taking this step, therefore, Señorita Panama is “guaranteed to be an inclusive organization.”
The organizers said that this decision was made “after plenty of conversations”, and is actually in line with the rules of the Miss Universe organization.
With this, Panama now joins Spain, Canada and Nepal, among others, in allowing transgender contestants to take part in the international beauty pageant. The Miss Universe competition lifted a ban on transgender contestants in 2012.
