Kevin Balot ‘sorry for confusion,’ walks back on beauty pageant statement

Rappler.com

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Kevin Balot ‘sorry for confusion,’ walks back on beauty pageant statement
'Thank you for all your comments and bubulay-bulayin ko po lahat yun para ma improve ang way of thinking ko,' says Kevin, who was crowned Miss International Queen 2012

MANILA, Philippines — Miss International Queen 2012 Kevin Balot took back an earlier statement she made about transgender women joining mainstream beauty pageants for women. 

On Tuesday, June 23, Kevin was interviewed by beauty queens Carla Lizardo, Bianca Guidotti, and Pia Wurtzbach on the podcast Queentuhan. At one point, they asked Kevin’s thoughts about transgender women joining pageants such as Miss Universe. 

“We transwomen (sic) always ask for equality… I believe us transgender women joining sa mga Miss Universe is not equality anymore,” she said.

Hindi lang ako sang-ayon sa mga ganoong bagay kasi (I don’t agree with that because) we have our own pageant. We have the Miss International Queen pageant, which is the most prestigous transgender beauty peageant. If us, joining pageant ng mga babae, hindi na siya equality eh, parang asking too much na (that’s not equality, that’s asking for too much),” she added, referring to the pageant she joined years back. She added that transgender women can join “if organizers allow” but “we have to respect each other.” 

When Carla, who’s competed in Binibining Pilipinas, asked if it meant “elevating” Miss International Queen to the same stature as Miss Universe. Kevin said: “It’s the same, equal… Miss international Queen, Miss International [is] equal.”

 

The Miss Universe pageant one of the world’s biggest beauty pageants. The organization is based in New York but holds the pageant’s finals night in different countries and cities every year. Pia herself was Miss Universe in 2015. 

Beauty pageants – despite criticism – remain wildly popular in the Philippines.  

 

A few hours after the podcast episode aired Kevin expounded on her answers in a series of tweets.

Gusto ko lang po i-clear yung confusion. Hindi naman po sa naniniwala ako na hindi dapat sumali ang transgender women sa traditional pageants. What I meant was bilang isang representative ng Miss International Queen, gusto ko lang na ma recognize ang pageant na ito as the most prestigious pageant for transwomen.”

(I just want to make things clear. It’s not that I don’t believe transgender women can join traditional pageants. I mean to say that as a representative of Miss International Queen, I was this pageant to be recognized as the most prestigious pageant for transwomen [sic].)

Kevin also apologized terms she used. I know na mali ako for saying na ‘too much’ na or ‘hindi na equality’ yun, pero just know na hinding hindi po ayun ang paniniwala ko. I just used the wrong terms dahil hindi po ako ganun kagaling at expressing myself in English,” she said. 

(I know it was wrong for me to say it was “too much” or “it was no longer about equality” but just know that it’s not what I believe in. I just used the wrong terms because I am not good in expressing myself in English.)

She thanked those who understood her and said that she will always fight for equality for the LGBTQ+ community. Thank you for all your comments and bubulay bulayin ko po lahat yun para ma improve ang way of thinking ko. Please know na kaisa nyo ako sa pakikipaglaban para sa pagkakapantay pantay ng lahat. I’m really sorry for the confusion.”

(Thank you for your comments, I’ll comb through them to improve my way of thinking. Please know that I’m with you all in fighting for equality. I’m really sorry for the confusion.)

 

The topic was part of Queentuhan‘s discussion in celeberation of Pride Month.

In 2018, Spain’s Angela Ponce became the first transwoman to compete in the Miss Universe pageant, which made headlines all over the world. Although she didn’t place in the pageant, Angela was given a special tribute during the pageant finals in Thailand. – Rappler.com

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