Wearing a light blue semi-transparent dress and a diamond necklace, Desiré Stregoni was crowned Miss Gay Costa Rica this Thursday and will represent the country at the Central American level in November in El Salvador to raise awareness about “the art of being a drag queen.”
“This platform allows us to speak, bring a message of love, inclusion, talk about human rights, and share what it’s like to be gay in each of the countries in the Central American region,” Stregoni told AFP before receiving her crown.
The Miss Gay Costa Rica organization celebrated the coronation at an event in downtown San José, where several dozen people cheered Stregoni amid various performances with the intention of sending a “message” in support of the “need” to create an anti-discrimination framework law in the country.
“In Costa Rica, if there is a hate crime against a trans person or a gay or lesbian person, and you go to file a complaint, there is currently no legal provision that defines what a hate crime against such a population is,” highlighted the 29-year-old crowned winner, who works in human resources.
For this reason, the organization emphasized that, beyond the party and the celebration of the coronation, Costa Rica still needs to “break social paradigms” concerning the trans community.
Ilandra Scavo, the event organizer, stated that the LGBTQ community in Costa Rica is the “Central American paradise” in terms of recognized rights, such as allowing a trans person to register their name on their ID, civil unions for same-sex couples, and adoption.
However, Scavo, 35, criticized the “conservative” aspect due to “religious principles” and the “strong culture of machismo” in Costa Rica, which limits the acceptance of the trans community in society.
