LAS VEGAS (AP) – For the first time in the pageant’s history, the miss Nevada USA name won through a transgender woman.
Kataluna Enriquez crowned the winner Sunday at the South Point hotel-casino in Las Vegas.
Enriquez, 27, won the Miss Silver State USA in March, an initial festival for Miss Nevada USA.
She defeated 21 contestants to make up Nevada in the Miss USA pageant to be held on November 29.
Enriquez thanked the others who helped her, adding her team and sponsors, in a Facebook post Monday.
“A big thank you to everyone who supported me from day one,” Enriquez wrote in an article on his Facebook page. “My community, you are in my heart. My victory is our victory. We have just made history. Happy pride. “
She also posted a photo of her dressed in a rainbow-colored suit on her Instagram account in honor of Pride Month “and everyone who doesn’t have the ability to spread their colors. “
Anthony Allen Ramos, GLAAD’s chief of skill, issued a compliment Tuesday to Enriquez.
“Kataluna Enriquez’s coronation as Miss Nevada is a great victory for trans visibility and sends a tough but undeniable message to the world: Trans women are women,” Ramos said in a statement. “Enriquez’s presence at the Miss USA level later this year will not only increase acceptance from the trans community, but will also motivate many other trans women who feel they haven’t realized they’re represented in this area before. “
GLAAD is a national organization that advocates for LGBTQ acceptance. According to the organization’s website, GLAAD was formed in reaction to the New York Post’s policy on the HIV and AIDS epidemic.
The first reported assembly took a stand in November 1985, followed by a demonstration in front of the New York Post.
Geena Rocero, a transgender model, manufacturer and activist, said Enriquez would do other transgender women around the world.
“I am very proud of Kataluna’s revolutionary victory, especially as a Filipino trans sister,” Rocero said on a Tuesday. “This victory will open the door for all festival systems to constantly advocate for the inclusion of trans women in all festivals, not just in America, but around the world. “
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Enriquez first participated in transgender pageants in 2016 while applying as a model.
According to her Facebook account, she owns her own fashion design company, specializing in dresses and costumes.
Journalist Marcella Corona of the Reno Gazette Journal contributed to the report.