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On Thursday, October 5, Marina Machete became the first trans woman to win the Miss Portugal pageant. The groundbreaking victory took place in Borba, in the southwestern Evora region of Portugal. Machete will now be competing at the Miss Universe 2023 pageant that is scheduled to happen in November in El Salvador.
Following her historic win, she posted on Instagram:
“We’re counting down to Miss Universe 2023. El Salvador, see you soon!”
Marina Machete, who is a flight attendant by profession, will be the second trans woman after Rikkie Valerie Kolle, to participate in the Miss Universe pageant. Kolle won Miss Netherlands in July.
So far, 80 participants have entered the Miss Universe pageant, including Machete. More are expected to join in the remaining one month.
Marina Machete is a native of Palmela
Marina Machete, who won the Miss Portugal 2023 title on October 5, is a 28-year-old trans woman who has been a professional flight attendant for the last five years. As per Euro Weekly News, she was born and raised in a small Portuguese town called Palmela, in the District of Setubal.
Marina is 5 feet 9 inches tall as per The Sports Grail.
As part of the Miss Portugal 2023 pageant, Marina Machete spoke of her “desire and commitment to the protection of human rights.” Apart from winning the crown at the pageant defeating 16 others, Machete was also recognized as the “most confident” participant in the contest.
Prior to the competition, Machete took to her Instagram and posted that she “was proud to be the first trans woman to compete for the title of Miss Universe Portugal.” She further added how she wasn’t “eligible to compete” for many years and was finally honored to have got the opportunity.
While Machete is not that active on social media, she still has over 8,000 Instagram followers.
Other trans people who have won beauty pageants in the past
Marina Machete follows in the footsteps of Angela Ponce, who became the first trans woman to compete in the Miss Universe 2018 pageant, where she represented her country, Spain.
Machete will compete at the Miss Universe 2023 pageant alongside 22-year-old actress and model Rikkie Valarie Kolle who became the first trans woman to win the Miss Netherlands title earlier this year.
As the World 360 News reported back then, Breda-native Kolle wished to be the voice and role model for the LGBTQ+ community.
Besides Rikkie Valarie Kolle, Angela Ponce, and now Marina Machete, other trans beauty pageant winners include USA’s R Bonney Gabriel who won Miss USA 2022 and Brian Ngygen, who won Miss Great Derry 2023. Kataluna Enriquez also won the Miss Nevada USA crown and title in 2021, and previously won Miss Silver State USA earlier that same year.
As for the Miss Portugal pageant, it has been running since 1926 and is the oldest national beauty contest. It is headquartered in Lisbon and its President is Ricardo Montevero.
Meanwhile, the Miss Universe pageant is now owned by Thai trans businesswoman Anne Jakkapong Jakrajutatip, who is also the CEO of the Thai media company JKN Global Group.
