24. Women & Pride powered by Suntory

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We Are All Miss Universe 

We are not asking for space. We’re claiming the universe. Women first!

Women & Pride exists because women have always been part of the lhbtiqa+ community — as activists, allies, leaders and carers. Not on the sidelines, but at the centre.

The “L” is not at the front of the abbreviation by accident. It recognises the support during the AIDS crisis. It honours decades of activism. And it’s a promise: women within the queer community must not disappear from view again.

That promise matters now more than ever. At a time when both women’s and lhbtiqa+ rights are under pressure worldwide, protecting our rights is essential. The right to self-determination: who you love and what you do with your own body. Women+ still face many demands about how they should behave and how they should live. That time is over. We are now steering our own course.

There are contests where one woman wins and the rest leave with a smile and a consolation prize. This is not one of them. On the Women & Pride boat everyone wins. Here “Miss” is not a title given to you, but one you claim.

This year we sail under the banner “Miss Universe – Unity in Diversity”: a queer, activist reinterpretation of the traditional beauty pageant. We throw the rulebook overboard. No judges. No measuring stick. No limits on what or who a woman is, or how a woman “should” look. On this boat every passenger may call herself Miss, because everyone decides for themselves who she, they or xir is. “Miss Universe” is thus reimagined: not a competition, but a celebration of community, individuality, identity and — above all — solidarity.

For better or for worse, we are all Miss Universe. Because we are all of it. Cis women and trans women. Non-binary people. Women of colour, women with disabilities, older women, young women, women living with HIV, women with a migration background — and everyone from communities that are not always visible by default. We all deserve a crown.

Everyone on board wears a sash with a self-chosen title: Miss Visibility. Miss Resistance. Miss Freedom. Miss HIV. Miss Joy. Miss Power. Miss Community. Miss LesBi.Colourful, joyful, bold and inclusive — with a strong activist undercurrent. Pride is also a protest. We celebrate freedom and diversity, but we also make it clear that the representation of lhbtiqa+ women is not a sideshow. Pride is truly out, loud and proud only when all women+ are seen, heard and included.

Step aboard. Grab your sash. The crown is yours too.

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