Transgender Miss Universe contender speaks up for trans kids

The first transgender woman to compete in the global Miss Universe pageant wants to make history as a role model for trans children around the globe — no matter whether she wins or not the top beauty title.

The 26-year-old Angela Ponce beat 20 other contestants in the Miss Universe Spain gala on June 29, qualifying for the global round of the pageant, which has allowed transgender participation since 2012.

In this photo taken on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, Angela Ponce, who won Spain's Miss Universe competition in June, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain. The first transgender woman to compete in the global Miss Universe pageant says that, whether winning or not the beauty title, she wants to make history as a role model for trans children around the globe. (AP Photo/Paul White)

The location and dates for this year's contest have yet to be announced. But Ponce is already planning to use it as a platform to draw attention toward high rates of suicides among trans teenagers, as well as legal codes that still discriminate against them around the world.

"If my going through all this contributes to the world moving a little step forward, then that's a personal crown that will always accompany me," Ponce told The Associated Press at the offices of the Miss Universe franchise in central Madrid.

In this photo taken on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, Angela Ponce, who won Spain's Miss Universe competition in June, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain. The first transgender woman to compete in the global Miss Universe pageant says that, whether winning or not the beauty title, she wants to make history as a role model for trans children around the globe. (AP Photo/Paul White)

The Spanish capital has just wrapped up its 2018 week-long pride celebrations, whose main theme was a call for equality and greater visibility for people with non-binary gender identity. Rights campaigners marching last Saturday welcomed the World Health Organization's recent move to take trans identities off the official list of mental health disorders, but highlighted discrimination faced by transgender people of all ages, including employment discrimination.

In this photo taken on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, Angela Ponce, who won Spain's Miss Universe competition in June, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain. The first transgender woman to compete in the global Miss Universe pageant says that, whether winning or not the beauty title, she wants to make history as a role model for trans children around the globe. (AP Photo/Paul White)

A study published last year by the European transgender group TGEU found that 77.5 percent of 885 transgender people over 16 years-old polled in Georgia, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Sweden had considered taking their own lives and that 24.5 percent of respondents had made at least one attempt.

Ponce said she had suffered discrimination before as a model, being rejected for fashion events or shoots once designers or organizers discovered she had undergone a sex reassignment procedure.

But in those moments, she said her life motto — "To be the best is not an option, is a must" — gave her strength.

She said her experience growing up in a "loving and supporting family" but without any role models in a small town in southern Spain, near Sevilla, can be a useful story for others.

"My parents never had to go to school to demand any changes in attitudes, I did it myself," Ponce said, highlighting how she would meet aside with every new teacher and tell them: "Whatever name appears in the roll call, you should call me Angela."

In this photo taken on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, Angela Ponce, who won Spain's Miss Universe competition in June, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain. The first transgender woman to compete in the global Miss Universe pageant says that, whether winning or not the beauty title, she wants to make history as a role model for trans children around the globe. (AP Photo/Paul White)

The 1.77-meter (5 foot, 11 inch) model's career took off after she won a provincial beauty award in 2015, reaching new heights last month with the Miss Universe pageant.

"I closed my eyes," she said recalling the victory. "All I wanted was to feel how they put on the crown because I was aware that it was a historical moment."

In 2012, 23-year-old Jenna Talackova was banned from Canada's Miss Universe pageant for not being a "naturally born" female. The organization — run at the time by now U.S. President Donald Trump — changed the regulations after she threatened legal action. Talackova made it to the shortlist in Canada, but didn't win entry to the international contest.

In this photo taken on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, Angela Ponce, who won Spain's Miss Universe competition in June, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Madrid, Spain. The first transgender woman to compete in the global Miss Universe pageant says that, whether winning or not the beauty title, she wants to make history as a role model for trans children around the globe. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Six years later, Ponce says that transphobia remains a global problem, even in Spain, a country she sees as a pioneer in the protection of LGBT rights.

After Ponce's victory in the Spanish beauty title, she received hundreds of messages of support on social media, but also some criticism — even from some feminist, gay or transgender users who decried beauty pageants in general as objectification.

"We can't be hypocritical," said Ponce, rejecting the charges and describing her victories as success for all transgender people. "Beauty is used to sell everything around us, and beauty can also help us spread a message of equality."

MILL HALL, Pa. (AP) — An Amish woman and her six children ranging in age from 3 to 11 were killed in a swift-moving house fire after an explosion that shook nearby houses in rural northcentral Pennsylvania, authorities said.

Firefighters responding to a report of an explosion and fire at a home in Lamar Township in Clinton County near Mill Hall on Sunday morning said seven people were trapped, but they couldn't search the house engulfed in flames, Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement.

All seven died. Police identified them as Sarah Stoltzfus, 34, four sons, ages 11, 10, 5 and 3, and two daughters, ages 8 and 6.

An obituary posted online by a local funeral home identified Stoltzfus as a member of the Old Order Amish Church community. She is survived by her husband, David Stoltzfus, it said.

A police report issued earlier gave the spelling of her last name as Stolzfus.

The cause is under investigation. A propane leak inside the home may have caused the explosion and fire, police said, noting that exterior propane tanks did not explode and were not contributing factors for the explosion and fire.

Neighbor Christina Duck told WNEP-TV she was eating breakfast when it began.

“And I heard a boom and I could feel it and I got up and looked out the window and I could see the flames through the windows and I come running outside and within a minute the whole house was completely engulfed,” Duck said. The family moved in a couple of months ago, Duck said, noting that she often saw the children outside playing.

By the time firefighters got there, "there was no saving that house, it went up so fast,” she said.

WNEP-TV showed video of what it said was members of the Amish community arriving at the scene to clean up and pay respects.

The Amish prioritize their deep Christian faith and family life, eschewing many modern conveniences. They wear traditional clothing and use horses and buggies for much of their transportation. They often speak a German dialect known as Pennsylvania Dutch.

This photo made from video from WNEP shows first responders at the scene of an explosion and fire in Lamar Township near Mill Hall, Pa., Sunday, April 19, 2026. (WNEP via AP)

This photo made from video from WNEP shows first responders at the scene of an explosion and fire in Lamar Township near Mill Hall, Pa., Sunday, April 19, 2026. (WNEP via AP)