In 2021, Kataluna Enriquez became the first openly transgender Miss USA contestant.
Unfortunately, during that competition, she ended up being eliminated before the round of 16.
The pageant ultimately awarded its crown to Elle Smith, a reporter at Louisville, Kentucky, television station WHAS.
But, earlier that day, Enriquez was celebrated as a champion in her home state of Nevada.
“Kataluna represents the best of her community and our state and when she takes the stage, she’ll make history!” Gov. Steve Sisolak tweeted in 2021.
Sen. Jacky Rosen agreed with that sentiment, tweeting, “Kataluna is making history as the first openly transgender woman to compete in Miss USA, and I couldn’t think of anyone better to represent the Silver State.”
Enriquez previously outperformed 21 other contestants at the South Point Hotel Casino in Las Vegas to take the Miss Nevada crown in her adopted hometown.
In 2023, Kataluna spoke with Business Insider about her experience as the first transgender woman to compete in Miss USA.
According to Enriquez, pageants helped her overcome years of shame and insecurity around her race and gender identity.
“I knew at a very young age that I was different,” she wrote in an essay for the outlet. “By the time I was able to speak or express my likes and preferences, I knew who I really was.”
“I grew up in the Philippines, which is a very Catholic country, so there was a lot of religion around how I grew up,” she continued. “From a young age, people started pointing out that I shouldn’t play with my sister’s toys or prefer her clothing over mine.”
Enriquez went on to say that she was always being told not to be too feminine, expressing herself in a way that a lot of other people considered to be “wrong.”
When she came to the United States, she encountered a whole new batch of struggles, having to learn not only a new language, but a new culture.
“When I moved to the US when I was 10 years old, I encountered a different language, a different system,” Kataluna wrote. “So I had to learn many things and learn them fast. On top of that, I was just trying to understand myself.”
“Other kids at school made fun of me for my lunchboxes, which had Filipino foods like rice, chicken adobo, and lumpia. And then when kids learned I was trans, they bullied me about that, too,” she revealed.
Enriquez entered her first pageant, a trans pageant, in 2015. Four years after transitioning, she said she “decided to try pageantry to regain confidence in myself and understand who I was.”
“Pageants are huge in the Philippines,” she said about her interest in them. “When I was younger, I viewed pageantry as objectifying or sexualizing women, but now I see it in a different lens.”
Kataluna went on to explain, “It’s more about understanding that these women are also capable of doing so much more than just being beautiful. That’s something I wanted to be a part of.”
Though the road was rocky in the beginning, Enriquez got the hang of things eventually, even starting Kataluna Kouture, which designs all the gowns she uses in pageants.
Six years after her first pageant, in 2021, she became the first openly transgender woman to compete in Miss USA.
While it was an honor for Kataluna, there were also some huge hardships that came with being seen on such a big platform.
“At the time, I made international news, which was great, but also had its challenges. I was the target for a lot of people,” she explained. “It seemed like everyone had an opinion. But it helped me grow a thicker skin, and to create a strong foundation for myself so I wouldn’t be as affected.”
Enriquez went on to explain how she got through it, thinking about all of the other people she’s representing just by living her truth.
“I focused on my purpose,” she said. “Why am I doing this? Being Asian American and also trans, there aren’t many people like me in the media. Growing up, I didn’t have someone to look up to, and I wanted to be that person to others.”
Next year, she will be competing at Miss International Queen USA, the biggest pageant for trans people.
“There’s a huge conversation around trans people competing with cis people in pageants, but having a space just for trans people is so important because we don’t often have that space to celebrate who we are,” Enriquez explained.
While she admits to playing it a little safer while competing in Miss USA, now Kataluna is committed to “giving a platform to allow trans people to express themselves authentically, and to give other people the opportunity to see us for who we are.”