Miss Universe 2023 pageant will feature not one, but two transgender contestants: Marina Machete of Portugal and Rikkie Kolle of the Netherlands. Rikkie was the first transgender woman to win her country’s pageant and compete in the Miss Universe 2023 competition. In July, she was crowned Miss Netherlands-Miss Universe. Marina won the Miss Portugal-Miss Universe title in November, after Rikkie.
This year’s Miss Universe pageant will be held in El Salvador in November. The event will include 90 ladies from all over the world competing for the title of Miss Universe. R’Bonney Gabriel, the current Miss Universe, will crown her successor at the finale.
Marina and Rikkie, on the other hand, have always utilized their voices to promote inclusivity in beauty pageants. In a video posted to the Portuguese pageant’s YouTube channel ahead of the Miss Portugal competition, Marina Machete said, “As a trans woman, I’ve been through many obstacles along the way, but fortunately, and especially with my family, love proved to be stronger than ignorance.”
Rikkie had also posted a video before her pageant and said, “Miss Universe asked us to describe ourselves in one word. The word I’m choosing is ‘victory,’ because as a little boy, I conquered all the things that came through my path – and look at me now, standing here as a strong, empowering, and confident trans woman.”
