Beatrice Luigi Gomez is set to become the first openly queer candidate to represent the Philippines at the 2021 Miss Universe pageant in December.
Capturing the crown: Gomez, who identifies as bisexual, was crowned Miss Universe Philippines 2021 on Thursday, Sept. 30, Rappler reported.
- The 26-year-old from Cebu city competed against 27 other candidates during the coronation ceremony held in the province of Bohol.
- The pageant initially started with 100 participants, most of whom were gradually eliminated after a series of challenges.
Historic win: Fans and members of the LGBTQ+ community have since taken to social media to celebrate her victory as the country’s first openly queer beauty queen.
- On Twitter, Filipinos took pride in announcing how the “gays are winning.”
- Meanwhile, some social media posts that announced the pageant results were also flooded with anti-LGBT comments, reported Coconuts.
Image from Facebook via Coconuts
Image from Facebook via Coconuts
Image from Facebook via Coconuts
Image from Facebook via Coconuts
Image from Facebook via Coconuts
- In an Instagram post last year, Gomez lamented on how she was criticized for winning the Binibining Cebu pageant.
- “If being gay didn’t make God happy why then does He continue to bless me and give me the strength to overcome life’s every challenge? I only truly became happy and lived life to the full when I started becoming honest to myself,” she wrote.
Featured Image via Miss Universe Ph (left), ABS-CBN Entertainment (right)
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