Miss Universe Owner Implies Trans Contestants “Cannot Win”
metroweekly.comAnne Jakapong Jakrajutatip, the transgender co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization, was caught on tape saying that women from nontraditional backgrounds — transgender women, married women, divorced women, and plus-sized women — “can compete but they cannot win.”It is unclear from the video whether Jakrajutatip is referring to the Miss Universe Pageant itself — or a potential, separate reality competition involving pageant contestants.Jakrajutatip made the comments during a Miss Universe board meeting last November.During the meeting, Jakrajutatip said it would be good for the pageant’s image to allow a diverse group of women to compete.“This is a communication strategy, because, you understand…they can compete but they cannot win,” she says in the video, which online news outlet Vox obtained from Rodrigo Goytortua Ortega, the former CEO of Miss Universe Mexico, who was present at the meeting. “We just put the policy out there.
Social inclusion, as people would say.”Later in the video, another board member suggests opening up a casting call for a diverse group of women, of all races, backgrounds, and sizes.“We can have real size beauty, the contestant.
Very big size,” Jakrajutatip replies. She later agrees with another board member that “we’ll have to control the audience” lest “they vote all for the big size.”She adds that the ensuing publicity from the casting call for all types of women will allow the organization to market Miss Universe products to consumers.“It’s all connected,” she says. “For money!”The Miss Universe Organization has not publicly commented on the video, but Jakrajutatip appeared to confirm the video’s existence in a Facebook post, saying her words were taken out of context.“The malicious edited video was out of context and used to manipulate other people which led to the public confusion, misunderstanding, misinterpretation and wrong conclusion,” she wrote.“I still don’t comprehend why this man [Ortega], who I was so nice to him, would like.
