Mothers,
transsexuals now eligible in Miss Spain pageant

Organizers of the national Miss Spain beauty pageant have decided to permit mothers and transsexuals for eligibility, Agence France-Presse reports.

The rule change was prompted by controversy surrounding the pageant's dethroning of 22-year-old Anna Bustillo, who won the regional title of Miss Cantabria, after organizers discovered that she had a young son. Bustillo claimed she was discriminated against, citing the eligibility of fathers in the Mister Spain pageant.

Though organizers initially defended Bustillo's dethroning, arguing that motherhood could hinder a winner from travel duties, they overturned the rule as well as another that barred transsexuals from the competition. Following a new law passed in March that grants transsexuals the right to change their official name and gender without the requirement of surgical operation, transsexuals will now be eligible in both the Miss and Mister pageants.

"Of course, their morphology must match their civil status," a pageant organizer told the AFP. (The Advocate)