There’s a new reigning Miss USA. Olivia Culpo, representing Rhode Island, was crowned Miss USA 2012 on Sunday, and it seems as though her stance on whether transgender contestants should be able to compete might have pushed her over the top.
If you’re all into the dramatic moments, you can watch Culpo’s crowning moment in the video below. Otherwise, just below we have Miss USA’s response to whether nor she believes a transgendered woman should be allowed to win the Miss USA pageant.
In the final round of the competition, the winner is determined by a single question. Culpo was asked to answer a question submitted by a pageant follower on Twitter.
The question read:”Would you feel it would be fair that a transgender woman wins the Miss USA title over a natural-born woman?”
To which she answered: “I do think that that would be fair but I can understand that people would be a little apprehensive to take that road because there is a tradition of natural-born women, but today where there are so many surgeries and so many people out there who have a need to change for a happier life, I do accept that because I believe it’s a free country.”
This question, of course, came about as a result of the controversy surrounding the participation of Jenna Talackova in the Miss Canada pageant. At first Jenna was told she could not compete because she is transgender. However, she was later allowed to be one of the contestants vying for Miss Canada 2012.
Back in American, Culpo will serve the next year as Miss USA 2012.
