On December 14, transwoman actress Iyah Mina shared her views about transwomen joining beauty pageants for women.
 At the media conference for ‘Broken Hearts Trip,’ which LionhearTV covered, Iyah voiced that transwomen should participate in beauty pageants for transwomen.
 “I am a woman by heart and by soul, babae ako. Yes, ‘yun ang aking identity, I’m a transgender woman. But then again, I think, mayroong talagang na pageant na pang-Transwoman lang. And I think ‘yung mga born as a woman talaga, ia-ano natin ‘yun parang, irespeto natin.”
 She then reasoned that the LGBTQIA+ people would have a similar concern if women were to join in pageants meant for the community.
 “Kasi, kung paano natin baliktarin ang pagkakataon, sila naman ang mga sumali ng Miss Gay, ang mga babae. So ano ba ‘yun. I think sa bansa natin, mahirap eh, ang tagal na, nakaka-third world, 2023 na ang dami pa ring ganitong issue.”
 She then pointed to the divide between the opinions among the members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
 “Gusto ko man isali ang mga kapatid ko, eh paano kung tayo mismo sa LGBTQIA+ community ay nagsisira-siraan. So ‘yun.”
 Iyah was the first transwoman to win the Best Actress Award at the Cinema One Film Festival in 2018 for her role in ‘Mamu; And a Mother Too.’
 As for her most recent project, ‘Broken Hearts Trip’ stars Andoy Ranay, Christian Bables, Petite, Iyah Mina, Teejay Marquez, Marvin Yap, Tart Carlos, and Jaclyn Jose.
 Under the direction of Lemuel Lorca, ‘The Broken Hearts Trip’ opens in cinemas on December 25 as part of the Metro Manila Film Festival 2023.
