Kataluna Enriquez has been crowned Miss Nevada and a trailblazer.
The 28-year-old beauty queen is now set to become the first openly transgender contestant to ever compete in the Miss USA pageant, reported CBS News.
Her win in the state pageant last week also broke ground as she was the first openly transgender contestant to be crowned Miss Nevada.
"Huge thank you to everyone who supported me from day one," Enriquez wrote following her win. "My community, you are always in my heart. My win is our win. We just made history. Happy pride."
While she’s been participating in pageants since 2015, she opened up about her experience competing as a transgender woman during the question portion of the Miss Nevada pageant.
“I told the judges that as a transgender woman of color and a survivor of physical and sexual abuse, I am everything that is underrepresented in this country,” Enriquez recounted to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Our voices matter. Those whose voices aren’t always heard deserve the chance to be heard.”
Despite her struggles, she was motivated to foster change within the pageant industry.
"I had a purpose and I had a dream," she told NPR. "I wanted to compete on the Miss USA stage. When I was young, I always wanted to see someone on the Miss USA stage — someone like me. And it just happened to be that I was the person that I needed to make history."
"My win is not just a win for the trans community," Enriquez added. "It's a win for all women to be represented."
Miss USA 2021 is set to take place on November 29th in Oklahoma.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram