EXCLUSIVE: ‘Trans women are women, full stop’: Miss Universe organizers confirm that as long as transgender models have had gender-affirming surgery they WILL be allowed to compete

Organizers of Miss Universe have backed transgender women competing in their glitzy competition – as long as they have had gender-affirming surgery.

The world-renowned pageant bosses say ‘trans women are women, full stop’, as Miss America also tightened its rules to match.

It comes after Rikkie Valerie Kolle, 22, won the Miss Netherlands title, and will be the second transgender woman to perform in Miss Universe.

Kolle is the first trans woman to win the Netherlands title and thanked her ‘haters’ for giving her a ‘bigger platform’ for her win.

Transgender billionaire Anne Jakrajutatip, 43, took over the Miss Universe organization from Donald Trump in October last year.

She has made many sweeping changes to the competition, eliminating the most photogenic and best swimwear prizes and pushing for women’s empowerment.

Both Miss Universe and Miss America allow transgender competitors but stipulate that they must have had gender-affirming surgery.

The Miss America contest changed the rules for their competitors for the 2024 season, saying people must identify as a ‘born female’ or have ‘fully completed sexual reassignment surgery’.

Previously the pageant had allowed anyone who simply identified as ‘a woman’ to participate. Monroe Lace, who is openly transgender, won the Miss San Francisco title earlier this year, and will now complete in the semi-finals of the Miss California contest.

Miss Universe has allowed trans women to compete for more than a decade and recently opened up the competition to married and divorced women.

A spokeswoman for Miss Universe told DailyMail.com: ‘Miss Universe is open to all women contestants, and that includes trans women.

‘Trans women are women, full stop. We are here to celebrate women, full stop. Our policy for more than a decade requires that trans women contestants have had gender-affirming surgery and, in fact, five years ago a trans woman delegate competed on the Miss Universe Stage.

‘The Miss Universe Organization is always evolving, and we are always updating our entry rules — in the last two years we have allowed married women, divorced women, pregnant women, and women with children to join.’

Anne Jakrajutatip transitioned from male to female in her mid-30s, marking the end of 70 years of men running the pageant.

The model-like CEO went from being bullied at her all-male school to becoming an activist icon in Thailand and establishing the Life Inspired for Transsexual Foundation (LIFT) charity, which advocates for transgender rights.

She has received several accolades, including winning the Asian Media Woman of the Year award in 2019, and was named on Forbes’s list of richest transgenders in the world in 2020.

Jakrajutatip described the pageant as the ‘No. 1 beauty Olympics in the world’ but added that the system is ‘not just about beauty, it’s about the iconic woman — beauty, brains and leadership.’

DailyMail.com also reached out to the Miss World competition, which has previously been slammed for only allowing unmarried women without children to compete, regarding their policies but did not receive a response.

Miss World was launched in 1951 by Eric Morley, who became known as ‘Mr World″ after he founded the famed beauty pageant. Since his death in 2000, Morley’s widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the event.

They have been notoriously stringent with their rules on women having children and being married, with Miss Ukraine suing the organization after she was stripped of her title.

Veronika Didusenko, 27, was banned from entering the Miss World finals and replaced by another contestant.

The model launched legal action against London-based Miss World, claiming organizers were in breach of the Equalities Act 2010 and took her case to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

She asked them to force organizers to change their ‘outdated’ entry criteria to reflect the modern world and was seeking a judicial review.

But the Commission said it does not consider this matter will ‘advance their strategic priority aims’ and told her the case is ‘atypical’ and only affects a ‘very small number of women.’

To enter Miss World, contestants must be unmarried and childless, between the ages of 17 and 27 and be a resident of the country they represent.

While Miss Universe is supportive of transgender women, there are also a number of countries competing where transitioning or being in a same-sex relationship is still considered illegal.

Egypt, Bangladesh and Guyana are set to return to the stage – despite their notoriously strict legislation around the LGBTQ+ community.

Currently, Namibia, Cameroon and Mauritius have all crowned their winners to compete, with Miss Universe saying they ‘welcome diversity in all forms’ despite the opposition to gender-affirming care in the countries.

They said: ‘The Miss Universe pageant welcomes diversity in all forms and this win by the contestant is a prime example of valuing societal diversity and inclusion at every level.

‘We recognize that individual countries are at different stages of acceptance and we operate within the guidelines and laws of each country.

‘However, we remain dedicated to using our platform and global reach to raise awareness, educate and push for acceptance and change wherever we can.

‘Our own Anne Jakrarutatip is currently advocating for Thailand to change policies so that government IDs can match gender identity.

‘We welcome any delegate that meets our criteria for entry, but it is up to each individual delegate and their national director to decide whether or not to adhere to any conflicting national laws.’

Last year, Miss New Hampshire Brian Nguyen became the first transgender woman to win a local Miss America Competition.

The pageant, which is held annually, showcases one women representing each of the U.S. states as they demonstrate a range of skills such as leadership, poise, and artistic talent.

The winner, determined by a panel of judges, is awarded the title Miss America and at least $50,000 in scholarship money.

As the titleholder, she then embarks on a yearlong national tour to advocate for a social issue she has chosen.

Miss Great Britain 1998 winner Leilani Dowding had previously said she was disappointed to see Nguyen win the crown over other contestants.