Miss Spain's Angela Ponce (pic) is blazing a trail as the first transgender contestant in Miss Universe's 66-year history, and she is carrying a bold message of inclusion, transgender rights and a sharp rebuke to US President Donald Trump.
The willowy beauty is making history since the pageant reversed a longstanding policy in 2012 that participants must be "naturally born" women.
Explaining her broad appeal, the plain-speaking 27-year-old says "who hasn't suffered from prejudice? Who hasn't had to deal with bullying?"
Outside the walls of Miss Universe -- whose finals will be held early Monday in Thailand's capital Bangkok -- the transgender community continues to be marginalised and misunderstood, with high rates of suicide.
(Transgender denotes a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex. They are also called transsexual if they undergo surgery to transition from one sex to another.)
