Catriona Gray assures everybody she’s OK
Credit to Author: MJ MARFORI| Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2019 16:07:45 +0000
It’s her fifth time back in the Philippines since starting her reign but Miss Universe Catriona Gray is still as energized as ever with her advocacies.
Last Friday morning, we caught up with the beauty queen after she watched a 45-minute life-changing cleft palate surgery of a young patient of Smile Train Philippines at the Philippine Band of Mercy in Quezon City.
“It’s my first time ever to see it live but you know what? It was so informative because when I advocate for a certain cause I want to have that firsthand experience. Without that, how can I even pull people to the cause if I hadn’t seen the good it can do myself.”
Another advocacy that is very close to Catriona’s heart is the SOGIE (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression) Equality Bill, also known as the Anti-Discrimination Bill (ADB). She is fervently praying it will be passed and signed into law especially after last week’s Farmers Market bathroom fiasco. Queen Cat couldn’t help but voice out her concern for transwoman Gretchen Diez who was refused her basic right to use the female restroom.
“It’s a conversation that we really need to be having. There is not a one-all solution to this problem, especially when it comes to the rest room situation, but my whole point in that issue was that victim shaming is not right. No one should be subjected to that type of treatment, to that type of shame, to that type of discrimination, and that will only come from being able to educate each other on how to properly treat people first off with respect.”
Catriona never holds back on any issue whether social or political so long as she sees that it can educate people, which she adds is one of her most important goals for the remainder of her reign in Miss Universe and beyond.
Incidentally, Cat also launched 500 copies of a limited edition book series published in partnership with FrontRow officials and RS Francisco. All proceeds for this project will go to Young Focus Philippines.
Besides Catriona, Miss Universe Organization President Paula Shugart is also in the country right now for meetings. She had an ocular at Philippine Arena in Bulacan as a possible venue for Miss Universe 2019. Initially, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Korea were lined up as candidate venues but no deals have been made due to pageant restriction issues in each one.
When we asked Catriona about the possibility of passing on her crown to the next Miss Universe in the Philippines, she replied, “I would love it. I think we would have a celebration like no other but of course nothing is confirmed yet.”
Fans, however, are of the opinion that it will be more difficult to bag a back-to-back win with our candidate Gazini Ganados if the pageant were to be held in Manila.
Finally, Catriona also put an end to speculations about her controversial post a few weeks back when she said she felt she was at a low point in her life. Without pinpointing any issue in particular, she nonetheless assured her followers that it’s alright to feel that way sometimes even for her who rarely posts about personal emotions online.
“I know everyone got worried but it’s also because I don’t usually share those types of things on social media. Honestly, I just wanted to prove that no matter where you are in life, no matter what success you achieve, there will always be moments of doubt and challenges that you need to overcome. No one becomes perfect and there is no stage in life where you won’t have any worries. I wanted to share that with people because this is me. I am not a perfect Barbie that does not go through life’s trials.”
Until next week, ta-ta!