More Than 100 'Trans Men' Enter Miss Italy Pageant To Protest 'Born Female' Rule
That'll show 'em!
More than 100 trans men — biological females who identify as men — have signed up to compete for the title of Miss Italy.
That's after the pageant announced a ban on trans women — biological men who identify as female.
Miss Italy official patron Patrizia Mirigliani said last month that inclusivity for biological men in pageants is "a bit absurd."
Patrizia Mirigliani poses with finalists in the Miss Italy 2018 contest. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)
"Since it was born, my competition has foreseen in its regulation the clarification according to which one must be a woman from birth," Mirigliani said.
She added she would not "jump on the glittery bandwagon of trans activism."
That glittery bandwagon, though, is plowing its way through the beauty pageant scene.
Last month, Rikkie Valerie Kollé (born a man) took home the Miss Netherlands 2023 crown — shattering the hopes of all the biological women competing for the title.
Kollé will compete for an opportunity to be named Miss Universe in January 2024 — just one year after undergoing "gender-affirming" surgery.
(Photo by EVERT ELZINGA/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
The owner of the Miss Universe pageant, by the way, is mega-millionaire Anne Jakrajutatip. Jakrajutatip — who identifies as female — was born a man.
In other words, you can guarantee Miss Italy isn't getting anywhere near the Miss Universe crown.
'Trans Men' Apply for Miss Italy in Droves
To protest of the ban on men in the Miss Italy competition, more than 100 male-identifying women have thrown their hat in the ring.
It all started with activist Federico Barbarossa.
Barbarossa fits all the qualifications to enter the pageant: Italian nationality or citizenship, over 18, born female and still registered as female on various identity documents.
So, yeah. Despite identifying as a man, Barbarossa is entirely qualified to compete for Miss Italy.
"Since the very first moment I heard about the 'women from birth' rule, it was clear to me how out of touch with the present this pageant was," Barbarossa said. "I signed up as a joke at first, but I really wanted to blow away the sand castle built on biology that they've been hanging on to."
And since then, Barbarossa has inspired more than 100 other women-turned-men to apply for the contest.
Federico Barbarossa receives confirmation of entry in Miss Italy pageant. (Credit: PinkNews)
In other words, a whole bunch of biological women have entered the women's beauty pageant.
This is not the in-your-face, "gotcha" moment these activists think it is.
If they meet the qualifications — one of which is being an actual female — they can enter. There's no guarantee they'll win, but they can certainly enter.
Good for them!
It's kind of like they're starting to get it.