Miss Italy pageant defends decision to ban transgender women from competing after Rikkie Valerie Kollé’s win in the Netherlands, saying it ‘will not jump on the glittering bandwagon of trans activism’
- Patrizia Mirigliani, patron of Miss Italy, said contestants must be “woman from birth.”
- It comes after the Netherlands crowned its first male winner on July 8
The Miss Italy beauty pageant does not allow transgender women to participate in the contest, organizers said.
Patrizia Mirigliani, patron of Miss Italy, said contestants must be a “woman from birth” and that the contest would not jump on the “glittering bandwagon of trans activism.”
It comes after the Netherlands crowned the first male-born winner of a female beauty pageant, 22-year-old Rikkie Valerie Kollé, on July 8.
She added that it was a “little absurd” for beauty pageants to try to attract attention by including transgender contestants.
But Ms. Mirigliani said she was happy for the Dutch game if she wanted to include it.
Patrizia Mirigliani, patron of Miss Italy (left, with Lavinia Abate, winner of Miss Italy 2022, right) said contestants must be a “woman from birth” and that the contest would not jump on the “glittering bandwagon of trans activism”
It comes after the Netherlands crowned the first male-born winner of a female beauty pageant, 22-year-old Rikkie Valerie Kollé (pictured), on July 8.
“Since birth, my contest has provided in its regulations the clarification according to which one must be a woman from birth,” she told Radio Cusano.
“Probably because even then it was foreseen that beauty could change, or that women could change, or that men could become women.”
She pointed out that women with tattoos, piercings and extensions were allowed to compete in Miss Italy, but added “excesses” were not good.
Dutch winner Ms. Kolle said becoming a woman ‘wasn’t easy for everyone’ and admitted that it hurt her a lot.
She was so determined to become a girl that at age 11 she changed her name from Rik to Rikkie, convinced she was “born in the wrong body.”
But in her youth, she was bullied daily for years, which led her to come home from school crying.
Rikkie Valerie Kolle looked confident as she beamed at the crowd as she became the first transgender woman to be crowned Miss Netherlands
Ms Kolle (pictured) was eight when she said her journey began, but she was 16 when she began the transition process to a woman, which included taking female hormones
‘I was born as little Rik, but I wanted to be a big Rikkie. The transition from male to female became something that made me feel at home,” she said on her Instagram.
“I endured teasing and went home crying. I would think, “Why me, why is this happening to me?” But I’ve always had the support of my loving family and friends.”
Ms. Kolle was eight when she said her journey began, but she was 16 when she began the process of becoming a woman, which included taking female hormones.
She then underwent gender confirmation surgery in January of this year — something she described as “the day I became who I want to be.”