Ángela Ponce is a trailblazer. A professional model in Madrid, she was the first transgender woman to be crowned Miss Universe Spain in 2018. She would go on to represent her country in the Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok, Thailand, that same year. Ponce didn’t win, but she broke boundaries and shattered misconceptions as the first transgender woman to ever participate in the global competition. Today, she has a powerful platform, and Ponce takes great pride in representing her country and being an activist for LGBTQ+ people and human rights in general.