(Correction: We've changed the above image as the previous image was incorrectly of Olivia Culpo, the previous Miss Universe. Our apologies for the confusion.)
The Miss Universe Pageant's struggle with tolerance continued this week as newly crowned Miss Universe Maria Gabriela Isler suggested segregation as a remedy for transgender contestants hoping to compete for the prized title.
Former Miss Venezuela Gabriela Isler sat down with HuffPost Live Thursday to discuss her win, days after scoring the galactic title at the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Russia Nov. 9. The conversation moved to the topic of transgender contestants, which became a hot-button issue last year when Jenna Talackova was disqualified from the Miss Universe Canada pageant.
"Do you think that transgender people should be able to compete in international pageants?" HuffPost Live host Ahmed Shihab-Eldin asked.
"They should have their own pageant, I think, and maybe they can realize in this pageant, Miss Universe, or the other pageants [were] made for women," she said. "They are… they have the opportunity, but I think that they have to compete with the same… the same team. Right?"
After being further pressed by Shihab-Eldin, Miss Universe joked, "It's not my decision. I would like to have the power to make all of the decisions. But, as a human being, you have to [have the opportunity] to realize… to make your dreams come true."
Thanks for pointing out the
Thanks for catching the honest mistake, guys! Updated, with apologies.
Get the photo changed
Get the photo changed immediately and apologize to the incorrectly identified woman!
You have the WRONG woman
You have the WRONG woman pictured. This is last year's Miss Universe Olivia Culpo of the U.S.A. who DOES support transgendered women participating in the pageant.
Sweet job with those all-caps
Sweet job with those all-caps words, John!