Half-Pinay transgender Arielle Keil to represent New Zealand at Miss Intercontinental pageant
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino-German transgender woman Arielle Keil will represent New Zealand in the upcoming Miss Intercontinental pageant.
In a report by “24 Oras,” the 26-year-old creative advertising student said that her father is from Davao while her mother is a Filipina-German.
Arielle said that she encountered discrimination her whole life but she stayed true to herself.
“My whole life, all I heard was ‘bakla,’ ‘bayot’ — all of that, but not once did I change. I would come home crying because kids would bully me and not once did I think, ‘I’m gonna try to be more masculine,’” Arielle said.
“I stayed true to myself and look where it got me,” she added.
She has a message to parents whose children are gay.
“My message to the parents would be to look at why you have those views around transgender people, around gay people, whatever, and then ask yourself, ‘are those views more important than the child I raised?’” Arielle said.
She also said that beauty queen is not determined by how people were born.
“Keep pushing. Keep fighting. There’s going to be so many people that are going to tell us that we don’t belong here. Beauty queen isn’t determined by how you were born, you know what body you were born into. It’s not about here, it’s about what’s in here,” she said.
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