Last night I happened to be watching the Miss USA pageant, which, as always, was a campy delight. Lots of laughs.
But I must say I was delightfully impressed during the question-and-answer portion of the show.
Finalist Miss Rhode Island, 20-year old Olivia Culpo, was asked a tweet sent in by a pageant viewer:
“Would you feel it would be fair that a transgender woman wins the Miss USA title over a natural-born woman?”
Here’s what she answered:
“I do think that that would be fair but I can understand that people would be a little apprehensive to take that road because there is a tradition of natural-born women, but today where there are so many surgeries and so many people out there who have a need to change for a happier life, I do accept that because I believe it’s a free country.”
Good answer! It was by far the most intelligent and thoughtful response.
The question was obviously sparked by the recent controversy that occurred when transgender beauty Jenna Talackova made it to the finals of the Miss Universe Canada Pageant.
Jenna ended up losing, but guess what—Olivia won! All hail the new transgender-friendly Miss USA!
