Transgender boys entered the Miss Italy pageant. Protesting the words of Merigliani

“Only those born women can register for the Miss Italy contest,” said the pageant organizer Patricia Merigliani, daughter of Enzo, the historical sponsor of the pageant born in 1939, in recent days. Her goal was to block the way for transgender and transgender people, after the Miss Holland prize was recently awarded to the trans woman Ricky Collet (the same thing happened in Spain in 2018 with Maria Collet).

no sooner said than done. Many transgender boys sign up in these hours for the national competition with their boys dead name feminine. This is the name that appears in the registry office and on documents, but they are no longer used in everyday life, preferring a name that corresponds to their true gender identity.

The idea started from Federico Barbarossa who posted on his social channels, and on the channels of the Mixed LGBtqia Association, the email confirmation of registration and the invitation to submit similar questions. The call was picked up by other activists and non-binary communities. Even the Trans Identity movement, while criticizing the competition for the “unrealistic and performative” standards of beauty it adopts and reproduces, reintroduced the proposal to participate “collectively in Miss Italy”. The goal is to support the emergence of trans women and allow them to achieve goals that until recently seemed unthinkable.

Many fill out the necessary forms. In addition to indicating their personal data, they must declare, among other things, that they “have impeccable conduct” and “have not made public statements of an inappropriate nature.” The clauses that Merigliani says serve to protect the “national identity” of the competition, which is above all an “Italian brand”. Until a few years ago, married women, women with children, or those who were over size or height limits were excluded from the competition. Standards have been modified over time under the pressure of transformations that have taken place in society.

At the moment it is impossible to know exactly how many transgender children have accepted the invitation, but there may be a few. Some of them did not receive any response from the organizers, others confirmed it He appears To be called to choose.

“I sent the application form because I am inspired by the intersectional feminism movement and this is a political act of solidarity and support for all trans women,” says Marty. He prefers not to mention his surname because he fears being excluded: he has received the date and time of the provincial selection and intends to take part in it. “In the past, I never dealt with competition. I think it should accept other types of bodies than the ones we see. Even among the CIS women themselves. Curvy or unskilled bodies for example. I am a biker king and on this occasion I want to create an art show to denounce transphobia in competition,” he continues, laughing.

Mars does not yet have an exact plan. It was all so fast he didn’t think he would ever be contacted again. But it happened and now he organizes himself with other people in the same situation as him.

Districts will be decided on August 3. If the protest continues, they can see some good things.