A beauty queen from Denmark has been crowned Miss Universe – and onlookers are already taking the opportunity to sarcastically celebrate that the winner is a biological woman.
Victoria Kjaer Theilvig, 21, took the honors on Saturday evening after an extravagant display at the 73rd Miss Universe finals in Mexico City.
She beat more than 120 other competitors after the 2023 competition featured married, plus-size and transgender participants.
This year it was more traditional, despite the parade recently being bought by a Thai media mogul who has been campaigning fiercely for transgender rights.
Before that, the competition was criticized for what many painted as an outdated view of beauty, which led to the first trans woman, Portugal’s Marina Machete, finishing in the top 20 last year.
Months earlier, 22-year-old Rikkie Valerie Kolle successfully became the first trans person to be crowned Miss Netherlands.
Angela Ponce, the first trans woman to compete at Miss Universe, paved the way for them a few years earlier when she became the first openly trans woman to be crowned Miss Spain.
The changing values seemed to influence Saturday night’s reaction, where many joked that they were surprised to see a non-transgender winner.
Victoria Kjaer Theilvig, 21, was named the 73rd Miss Universe on Saturday evening in Mexico City. The Danish student thus defeated more than 120 other participants
Portuguese Marina Machete, a transgender woman, was in the top 20 of last year’s election
“BREAKING: Fans shocked after straight, white, biological woman wins Miss Universe 2024,” popular political commentator Matt Wallace wrote to his more than two million followers.
‘Reality just made a comeback! Congratulations, Denmark!’ added another.
‘The tide is turning, the waking virus is on the run. Hold the line,” someone else said.
And another added: ‘Back to normality.’
Most of the comments seemed to be made in jest as the discourse continues to swirl around the sanctity of certain all-female matches.
I think of the controversies surrounding Dylan Mulvaney, the transgender activist now infamous for her collaboration with Bud Light, and Algeria’s gold medal-winning boxer Imane Khelif.
Mulvaney was born male but has since transitioned to female, while Khelif was wrongly labeled as transgender by far-right activists.
Khelif was assigned female at birth and her passport says so, but she was disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing unspecified and transparent eligibility tests.
Since then, there has been outrage from conservatives such as President-elect Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, focusing on the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) threshold for fighter eligibility.
Shifting values appeared to influence the reaction to the Dane’s victory on Saturday night, with many joking that they were surprised to see a non-transgender woman take the crown.
Both politicians have pointed out inconsistencies between the sport’s governing body and the IOC, after the IBA – one of boxing’s sanctioning bodies – disqualified Khelif from the 2023 world championships final due to “high levels of testosterone” in her system.
The circumstances of that disqualification have since come under scrutiny, as Khelif has filed a lawsuit against the French media over reports claiming the 25-year-old has XY (male) chromosomes, calling it all “a big conspiracy.”
She went on to win Olympic gold in the gender-eligibility battle, while Mulvaney was controversially named ‘Woman of the Year’ by British magazine Attitude this time last year.
The London-based publication presented Mulvaney with the title at an awards ceremony in October 2023, prompting a lengthy speech.
“Some see me as woman of the year, some see me as woman of a year and some change,” Mulvaney, 27, said at the time.
“And some people don’t see me as a woman at all.”
She further noted that she “only came online publicly 560 days ago.” before she rose to fame thanks to her TikTok series “Days of Girlhood,” which followed her transition.
She went on to say that she was “grateful” that the award was presented in Britain rather than the US, before referring to the then-emerging response to a subsequent show of support from Bud Light.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif roars in victory as she wins Olympic gold at this year’s Paris Games. She is not transgender but was disqualified from the 2023 IBA World Championships final due to ‘high levels of testosterone’ – sparking debate over her eligibility
Mulvaney, meanwhile – this time last year – was controversially named ‘Woman of the Year’ by the British magazine Attitude
“I came to London on holiday this summer after feeling isolated for months, and when I arrived I didn’t feel the baggage I was carrying to the US,” Mulvaney said at the time.
“And I didn’t feel like a trans beer girl… I romanticized this country as a safe place.”
The “baggage” she was talking about came in the form of disapproval from the American public who were turned off by the concept of a transgender woman gracing the cans of their favorite beer.
Similar hesitation was seen Saturday among fans of the Miss Universe pageant, which was bought last year by Thai businesswoman and transgender lawyer Anne Jakkapong Jakrajutatip for $20 million.
As the first woman to own the pageant, she welcomed several transgender participants to the competition last year, Machete and Kolle, with the latter becoming the first trans woman to be crowned Miss Netherlands in July 2023.
The former, meanwhile, did well enough to reach the final before losing to Theilvig’s predecessor, Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua.
A few weeks earlier, Machete, a 29-year-old flight attendant, thanked her supporters for the “positive and encouraging” messages she received after being named “Miss Portugal.”
“To all of you watching, I just want to say that, just like the universe, your possibilities in life are limitless,” she said in a video posted to Instagram at the time. “So don’t limit yourself to any dream.”
Last year, several transgender participants graced the competition, including the Portuguese Machete and the Dutch Rikkie Valerie Kolle
Kolle would add in her own post within a few days: ‘Yes, I am trans and I want to share my story, but I am also Rikkie – and that is what matters to me.
“I did this on my own and enjoyed every moment of it,” she further emphasized.
She also revealed that, like Mulvaney, she has been the victim of hate speech due to her background.
‘I thought we really accepted it… in the Netherlands, but the hate reactions show the other side of our society. I hope this is a wake-up call,” she told Reuters at the time.
‘For now I’m ignoring it completely. I focus on the good things that come my way.’
The two were the only transgender participants among the 90 participants last year, and this time no one got that far.
However, fashion consultant Qatrisha Zairyah became the first transgender woman to reach the finals of Miss Universe Singapore in September, but failed to secure a place in Mexico.
Before her, Kataluna Enriquez became the first trans woman to compete in the Miss USA pageant after being crowned Miss Nevada in 2021. She also did not make it to Miss Universe that year.
In September, fashion consultant Qatrisha Zairyah became the first transgender woman to reach the finals of Miss Universe Singapore, but failed to secure a place in the Universe finals in Mexico.
In 2018, Angela Ponce became the first trans woman ever to earn a spot in the competition after being crowned Miss Spain
Since then, only a few transgender competitors have made it to the finals, with Machete being the most recent
In 2018, Angela Ponce became the first-ever trans woman to earn a spot in the competition when she was crowned Miss Spain.
Since then there has been much discussion on the subject, with organizers allowing trans women to participate for the first time in 2012.
Since then, only a few transgender competitors have made it to the finals, with Machete being the most recent.
Victoria, meanwhile, burst into tears as his name was announced by American presenter Mario Lopez and former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo.