Former Miss France President Supports Hijab-Wearing Contestants, Opposes Transgender Candidates

"A Miss with a headscarf is possible. Moreover, I would have liked a Maghrebi Miss," said Geneviève de Fontenay, former president of the Miss France Committee on CNews. Thus, "the headscarf would have, she said, replaced the crown". She also claimed to have fought for the advent of a candidacy of a veiled woman.

While Geneviève de Fontenay is in favor of a veiled Miss, she is fiercely opposed to a transgender candidacy in the Miss France contest. "No, it’s no, it’s no, it’s no! I will fight until my death. It’s an insult to me. The word ’transgender’ will never be stuck to ’Miss France’. On the other hand, I advise them to make Miss Transgender France. Miss Transgender France or shit!" she fumed angrily.

The former president of the Miss France Committee hammered that she is against qualifiers that do not correspond to a title she considers honorable as Miss France. "That a transgender person exists, it’s not my problem. I’m not against it, but it can’t stick to Miss France (...) It’s unbearable and it can’t be done. They’ll do it when I’m dead," she said.