Miss Universe Philippines 2021, the 2nd edition of the national pageant, was held tonight at the Henann Resort Convention Center, Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol where twenty-eight stunning ladies competed for the national crown and Beatrice Luigi Gomez was crowned the new queen at the end of the event finale. She succeeds and was crowned by Miss Universe Philippines 2020 Rabiya Mateo and will now represent her country at Miss Universe 2021.
Beatrice has created history by becoming the first ever openly gay contestant from Philippines to represent the country at Miss Universe. During her question-answer round at the national finale, her definition of beauty sealed the deal for her as she said, “I guess what makes me beautiful is my bravery and being true to myself. To tell you guys honestly, I have a girlfriend, I have tattoos, and I’m very proud of my imperfection, and I guess that is what makes me beautiful.” In a recent interview Beatrice opened up about her struggles and shared her preparations for the upcoming international stint.
“I didn’t want my sexuality to be the only identity that I have joining the Miss Universe competition. There’s so much more about me that I wanted to share with other people, and I wanted to normalize the idea of LGBTQIA+ members joining beauty pageants because I may be the first to openly talk about it, but I am not the first one who joined,” she says.
Beatrice also had to face criticism for who she and who she loves. She further mentioned, “I experienced discrimination. There were times when I was excluded from religious events in our hometown because I was a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Also talking about her advocacy, the diva wants to takes on the responsibility to pay it forward and bring awareness to how children are used as instruments of war should be everyone’s concern. “These children, they’re considered a nuisance to the community because they’re juvenile delinquents. And some people don’t understand that these children are also just victims that they also need to be guided. If we are able to give them the opportunity that they need to improve themselves, then we will be able to give a better future for them. Just because they made a mistake, it doesn’t mean that we already deprive them of opportunities,” she shared.
“Each one of us is representing someone out there who is also like us. So, it’s very important that we stay true to ourselves, and we are genuine when we join these platforms,” she shared. Apart from continuing Philippines’ top ranking at Miss Universe, Gomez is also aiming to bring home the fifth Miss Universe crown.
With only four weeks left to the grand night of the most coveted title, Gomez also threw some light on her preparations for the big platform as she mentioned, “I’m already beginning my Q&A training and hopefully before I get into the bubble and we fly to Israel, I will be able to do face to face training.”
“When I read social media comments that’s when I feel the pressure most. Of course, I know what I’m capable of and I’m also willing to work on the things that they need me to improve on, so I handle the pressure by preparing myself through the training,” she added.
She also vowed to improve her public speaking skills as she wrote, “I still find it hard to really interact with other people because I was very much an introvert. I just pushed myself way past the limits to get into the Miss Universe Philippines competition and if there’s something that I really want to improve on that is my public speaking skills. So I hope that after all of my training when I get to Israel, I will be a good spokesperson for the Philippines and a representative of the causes I stand for.”
25 years-old Beatriceis powerful, stunning, confident and determined. She desires to inspire young girls who dream of becoming beauty queens to know that modern beauty queens are no longer limited to the standards that they used to have and her hope to encourage them to pursue their dreams regardless of what they are most inclined to do even if it is not what is expected of them.
She will soon be heading to represent Philippines at Miss Universe 2021, the 70th edition of Miss Universe pageant, scheduled to be held on 12th December at Eilat, Israel. At the end of the event, Miss Universe 2020 Andrea Meza of Mexico will crown her successor.