Maria Gigante , 30, representing the Philippines, has been crowned Universal Woman 2024 on March 22, 2024 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She is the first woman from her country to win the title. She was crowned by outgoing queen Valentina Sanchez Trivella of Venezuela. Her court includes: 1st runner-up - Lisandra Chirinos - Venezuela 2nd runner-up - Elise Mysyshyne - France 3rd runner-up - Brianna Mai - Cambodia 4th runner-up - Tavera Pena Chabeli - Dominican Republic Making the top 12 were the delegates from Zimbabwe, Denmark, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Great Britain. A total of 42 contestants competed in the second edition of the pageant whose aim is to “unite, celebrate and advance women’s contribution, diverse beauty and accomplishments.” The contest is open to women between 25 to 45 years of age regardless of marital status.
The Miss Universe Costa Rica Organization, in charge of choosing the Costa Rican representative for Miss Universe 2024, confirmed that trans women will not be able to participate in this edition of the contest. This was announced by Yessenia Ramírez , director of the beauty contest, during an interview with La Nación: “In the last beauty contests (in the world) trans women have been participating, who are medically and legally recognized as women. What about that requirement? Are they no longer going to be allowed?” Ramírez replied: “I want to handle this in a very sensitive way, for the respect that that population deserves. For me we are all the same and we all deserve the same respect, but, in this specific case, this contest is for women and that is something that even the same people demand. It is not our issue, if it is not something that is to do justice to women, so to speak.” Source: https://www.nacion.com/viva/farandula/miss-universe-costa-rica-mujeres-trans-