The Miss Costa Rica organization announced last Friday night that transgender women will be able to participate in this year’s beauty pageant. This was reported by channel 7 -ownerof the franchise in the country.
“The requirements of the contest are determined by the international franchise, and for this edition it was determined that, in the event that the sex of a contestant designated at birth was not female, for the purposes of the contest the applicant must provide legal and governmental recognition of the assigned sex. This by the official authorities of the corresponding country, which may include certification that the sex reassignment required by the country and provided by a physician has been completed”.
Thus, the contest that will take place on August 16th2023will be aligned with the guidelines of the Miss Universe franchise, which accepts transgender women. This is implemented because the current owner of Miss Universe, the Thai Anne Jakrajutatip, is transgender. She has insisted in various interviews that the contest must be more diverse in tune with the current demands for greater equity and social inclusion.
Other requirements
These are the other requirements that Teletica asks of future applicants for the 2023 contest:
• Being a Costa Rican
• Reside in Costa Rica for at least the last 6 months
• From 18 to 28 years old as of December 2023
• Have good health, physical and mental
• Any marital status, either with or without children
• They cannot have participated in the last 2 Miss Costa Rica contests
• Student or university graduate
• Medically and legally recognized as a woman in Costa Rica
• Have up-to-date documents, especially identity card and passport
• Any aspirant cannot be the current winner of a title or the first runner-up in any other international contest or competition
• Have charisma, education, manners, discipline and responsibility
•“Not having publicity material, videos, photographs, social media or in lewd, compromising or otherwise unacceptable activities or situations”
• Full Covid-19 vaccination scheme
• Time availability
The deadline is May 20th, 2023, and the casting date has not yet been defined.
Sudden change of mind
On the subject of married applicants with or without children and even pregnant, the Miss Universe organization announced in the middle of last year that, starting in 2023, it would accept them in its pageants. At the end of last September, in the grand finale of Miss Costa Rica, this medium asked Gabriela Alfaro, director of the organization of the contest, if this possibility would open up in our country.
She responded to this at the time: “Miss Universe is a pageant for girls who are not married, that is, those who do not have children. But we do not have much explanation of what they (the international organization) are going to do. We are expecting many answers to our questions. It is that there is no level playing field… It is not level playing field. But Miss Costa Rica, whether she is Miss Universe or not Miss Universe, will always be Miss Costa Rica”, she said.
This policy varied only for the issue of contestants with or without children or married or single, since pregnant women are not mentioned among the requirements.
