Dear Miss Miriam Quiambao (@miriamq),

Look, I don’t know what you’ve been smoking lately, but just because your face is known and you were the runner up for Miss Universe 1999, doesn’t mean you have the right to impose your beliefs as truths.

You opposed to having a transgender woman take part in Miss Universe saying “In my humble opinion, transgenders should not be allowed to join the MissU because it’s only for REAL women… I’m not judging gays/transgenders and I love them anyway but @MissUniverse should be for natural born women only”. (source)

So what if someone was born as a real woman on the inside but not on the outside? Have you no consideration of what echoes true within one’s heart? Because you’re all about the truth, right? And what exactly makes a woman a real woman? In movies, when a boy turns into a man, it’s not because of some physical transformation. It’s because of something that the boy accomplished. If in movies and in certain social situations, becoming a man depends on how a boy proves himself worthy through his actions, what then is your take on what truly defines a woman? Are you belittling becoming a woman by tying it to nothing more than the physical front? I’d hate to say this, but it’s like you saying that Steven Hawking is nothing more than a cripple.

I’m not trying to pick a fight. I just want to know what made you string your words in such a way that made it sound like you weren’t exactly okay with the LGBTQ community’s existence, even if you kept reiterating that you supposedly loved the community and wished no harm against it. I’m not cursing you to the depths of hell or anything. Maybe if we sat down and talked about things, we could help each other understand where the other is coming from. Who knows, maybe talking to people who belong to the LGBTQ community (and by talking, I legit mean sitting down and talking to us as opposed to speaking through the media) will help you understand us. And maybe, just maybe, by allowing us to talk to you personally, you’ll help disprove the idea of beauty queens being airheads. I’m kidding. But I was dead serious about the talk, though. You could help bridge the gap between people with different beliefs. Not necessarily change our beliefs to unite us as one, but contribute ideas to help both parties understand each other more. Maybe devoting time to having a proper, intimate conversation about the topic will help unite the people. 

Just a thought.