NextSharkNextShark.com
Latest Newsletter🍵 Biden awards Asian artistsRead

Article

Filipina Beauty Pageant Model Has the Best Answer to ‘Do you have a boyfriend?’

    Asian America Daily - in under 5 minutes

    Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories, to your inbox daily, for free!

    Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive

    A candidate at a local beauty pageant in the Philippines has been praised after speaking about her girlfriend during the question-and-answer round.

    Maria Izobel Taguiam, 17, was representing the municipality of Tagobon at the first Binibining Cebu pageant on Oct. 28.

    Taguiam made it to the final leg of the competition, the question-and-answer round, where she was up against 11 other candidates. Before her turn, she was asked by the hosts if she had a boyfriend.

    While she did not win the coveted crown, her response to the hosts’ curiosity was epic:

    “Yes, but not a boyfriend but a girlfriend, because I believe love does not see gender and if you love that someone, go for it.”

    The high school student from Cebu’s Southwestern University went viral in social media shortly, with many praising her choice to open up.

    Despite its religiosity, the Philippines has always been known as one of the world’s most LGBT-friendly countries. As per the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a Pew Research Center survey in 2013 showed that 73% of Filipinos agreed that “homosexuality should be accepted by society.” This was reportedly comparable to the level of acceptance found in secular western Europe.

    After the pageant, Taguiam shared more about her moment in an interview with Cebu Daily News:

    “I’m just proud to have her. I just want to tell people that it is okay to love someone regardless of gender. I just want to be honest as possible and answer from the bottom of my heart that’s why I decided to reveal it during the interview.”

    Taguiam said that her girlfriend did not attend any of her rehearsals but ensured that she got home safely.

    “I realized that if she doesn’t love me, she won’t even agree to the idea. She’s someone worth loving, she has a beautiful soul,” she added.

    Images via Facebook/Binibining Cebu

    Support our Journalism with a Contribution

    Many people might not know this, but despite our large and loyal following which we are immensely grateful for, NextShark is still a small bootstrapped startup that runs on no outside funding or loans.

    Everything you see today is built on the backs of warriors who have sacrificed opportunities to help give Asians all over the world a bigger voice.

    However, we still face many trials and tribulations in our industry, from figuring out the most sustainable business model for independent media companies to facing the current COVID-19 pandemic decimating advertising revenues across the board.

    We hope you consider making a contribution so we can continue to provide you with quality content that informs, educates and inspires the Asian community. Even a $1 contribution goes a long way.  Thank you for everyone's support. We love you all and can't appreciate you guys enough.

    Support NextShark

    Mastercard, Visa, Amex, Discover, Paypal