The 21-year-old woman first made the revelation to Missosology, a beauty pageant blog, on November 29. While speaking to the portal, Swe had said, “I came to a full realisation about my sexual orientation over a long period of time. I knew I was ‘one of them’ way back in 2015. It is personally quite challenging but I feel that I have a greater voice and the best position to promote this cause. Some pageant fans know about it and they still support me but this is the first time I am able to talk about it in public.”
After coming out as lesbian, Htet also posted a collage of her pictures with the pride flag.
Meanwhile, Htet also spoke to People and opened up about being the first openly gay Miss Universe contestant. “I have that platform that, if I say that I’m a lesbian, it will have a big impact on the LGBTQ community back in Burma (Myanmar). The difficult thing is that in Burma, LGBTQ people are not accepted they are looked down on by other people and are being discriminated against,” she said.
She also recalled her parents’ reaction when they first got to know about her sexual orientation. “At first, they were mad. They didn’t accept me. But later, when they found out more about the LGBTQ community, they started to accept me,” she said.
According to People, Htet is in a relationship with the Burmese singer Gae Gae since the past three years.
The Miss Universe Organisation President, Paula Shugart welcomed Htet’s decision to come out. “We are honoured to give a platform to strong, inspirational women like Miss Universe Myanmar, who are brave enough to share their unique stories with the world,” she said. “Miss Universe will always champion women to be proud of who they are,” she added.
Miss Spain 2008 Patricia Yurena Rodriguez had competed in Miss Universe in 2013, but she did not come out until after the competition.
As for Miss Universe 2019, South Africa’s Zozibini Tunzi was crowned with the prestigious title.