Transgender Miss Spain hopeful aims to create pageant history

Transgender model Angela Ponce is aiming to win Sunday's Miss World Spain contest and create history in the world of beauty pageants, the media reported.

She already holds the title of Miss Cadiz and will be taking a big step for the transgender community in Malaga as she hopes to become the first trans woman to win Miss World Spain, The Local news portal reported.

Ponce, 23, said she hopes that her participation will help bring more visibility to others like her.

"Society is not brought up to be educated about diversity," Ponce said, adding "This is what made me go public. I want to say, here I am and I am not weird, I only have a different history. A woman for whom life came about in another way, but I am a woman."

Ponce is representing Cádiz, though she was born in Seville, but she said she is happy to represent the city where she spent many years.

If she wins, she would go on to participate in the upcoming Miss World competition in China this December.

She has also been working with the Daniela Foundation to raise awareness about transsexual and transgender individuals.

Transgender models including Lea T, who is often cited as the first transgender supermodel discovered by French fashion house Givenchy in 2010, have been redefining the fashion industry.

Others include Serbian-origin model Andrea Pejic who has walked the ramp for noted designers like Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs; and American model Arisce Wanzer has been the face of Kenneth Cole and has walked for fashion houses like Topshop.