Wednesday, June 30, 2021 | 2 a.m.
Kataluna Enriquez was in shock after she was crowned Miss Nevada USA on Sunday, becoming the first transgender woman to make it to the Miss USA pageant.
“It hasn’t hit me yet. We just made history, and I don’t know how that feels. It was part of my goal, part of my dream,” Enriquez said Tuesday.
Enriquez will take part in the Miss USA pageant in November in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The organization has allowed transgender women to compete since 2012.
Enriquez said it has been her dream “to see someone like me onstage.”
“I am a woman, this is my experience, and this is who I am. It wasn’t necessarily focused on me being trans; it was my special gift if anything,” she said.
Enriquez began entering transgender pageants in 2015, and has competed in California, Thailand, Barcelona and the Philippines. She started competing in more traditional pageants two years ago.
“I love that Miss USA and the organization is open and accepting of all kinds of women,” she said.
Enriquez, who designed her wardrobe for the Miss Nevada USA competition, said she will also be designing her wardrobe for the upcoming Miss USA pageant. Enriquez studied at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in California.
As Miss Nevada USA, Enriquez plans to work with nonprofit organizations including the LGBTQIA Center of Southern Nevada and Las Vegas TransPride, where she will do public speaking and advocate for children and survivors of physical and sexual abuse.
Enriquez, 28, was born in the Philippines and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when she was 10 years old. She has lived in Las Vegas for over a year and works as a health care administrator specializing in LGBTQ care.
Enriquez said some people have criticized her for competing in pageants with nontransgender women.
“People are always asking why I won and saying I am not a woman, that I am not natural,” Enriquez said.
Jamie Sprague-Ballou, founder of Las Vegas TransPride, said she saw negative social media posts about Enriquez being crowned Miss Nevada USA, referring to Enriquez in male pronouns. One person called her an “it.”
“It was a shame that there’s people that cannot accept people for who they are,” Sprague-Ballou said. “It took a lifetime to get to the point where she’s at, to become her authentic self and to be who she is.”
“When they announced her winning, it just brought tears to our eyes,” Sprague-Ballou said.
Brian Hosier, chief operating officer of the LGBTQIA Center of Southern Nevada, said Enriquez should be an inspiration for young people.
“The more accepting people are of diversity, the better society is for it,” he said.
