SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A transgender lady has for the primary time been chosen to take part within the Puerto Rico Miss Universe contest held within the largely conservative U.S. territory.

Daniela Arroyo González, who’s finest identified for profitable a federal lawsuit in opposition to Puerto Rico’s authorities that permits individuals to alter their gender on their start certificates, was chosen Thursday. It was her second try.

Within the April 2018 ruling, U.S. District Courtroom Decide Carmen Consuelo wrote that Arroyo and others who introduced the lawsuit “have stepped up for these whose voices, debilitated by uncooked discrimination, have been hushed into silence. They can’t wait for one more technology, hoping for a lawmaker to behave.”

Arroyo additionally cofounded the Puerto Rico Trans Youth Coalition, a assist and networking group.

Arroyo will compete with different candidates representing the island’s 78 municipalities for the Miss Universe Puerto Rico title.

The Miss Universe pageant has allowed transgender participation since 2012, with the primary transgender lady competing within the world occasion in 2018.

Final yr, a transgender activist and enterprise tycoon from Thailand purchased the Miss Universe Group for $20 million.