Miss International Queen Philippines 2026 Red Spiegelman
For Miss International Queen Philippines 2026 Red Spiegelman, advocating for a healthier transition means more than making medical care accessible. It means making sure transgender people have access to proper information, gender-affirming healthcare, the dignity to make informed decisions about their bodies, and safe spaces where they can exist freely.
Speaking at the World Equality Forum of the Miss International Queen organization, Spiegelman connected her advocacy to the trans women she has met throughout her journey — women whose stories eventually became part of hers.
“Way back in 2019, I’ve met a lot of sisters, which stories became part of my own. And those experiences shaped my advocacy which is [a] healthy transition for all,” she started.
For her, a healthy transition should be grounded in access to proper information, gender-affirming care, informed decision-making, and safe public spaces.
That message comes against the backdrop of continuing gaps in transgender healthcare in the Philippines. For some transgender Filipinos, those gaps can mean navigating transition without consistent medical guidance.
A 2023 study of transgender people accessing a community-led clinic in Metro Manila found that some were taking gender-affirming hormones without prescriptions and outside reference regimens (Eustaquio et al., BMJ Open, 2023). Another study focusing on trans Pinays identified limited access to specialized healthcare and financial constraints among factors associated with self-prescribed feminizing hormone therapy (Dacillo et al., De La Salle University, 2023).
Community-led clinics have tried to fill some of those gaps. One of them is LoveYourself’s Victoria center, launched in 2016, was established specifically to address the lack of services for transgender health and offers transition counseling and other gender-sensitive services.
But these community-based systems can also be vulnerable to system disruptions. In 2025, the US foreign-aid freeze and subsequent cuts affected some LGBTQIA+ and HIV-related centers and programs in the Philippines.
For advocates, the situation underscored how access to healthcare can depend not only on the availability of doctors and medicine, but also on whether the community infrastructure supporting patients can continue operating.
For Spiegelman, having information is not about telling transgender people what they should do with their bodies, but giving them appropriate medical guidance to make decisions with dignity. Her understanding of that kind of support was also shaped by sisterhood.
In 2024, through Miss International Queen Philippines, Spiegelman said she had the opportunity to meet more of her sisters and see how they lived. What they taught her did not always come through words, but through embracing themselves.
“I saw how they live, love, handle struggles, [conquer] victories, and embrace themselves unapologetically. They didn’t teach me through words, they showed up to the world as themselves — and that taught me to embrace myself, as well,” she shared.
But Spiegelman also realized that not every trans person grows up with a sister to guide them, and started asking, “how can we make a trans person feel safe, informed, or embrace themselves authentically?”
For her, the answer comes down to two things: access and community and sisterhood.
Access means having reliable information and gender-affirming healthcare. Community means having someone who can share what they have learned, offer guidance, and remind another trans person that they do not have to navigate everything alone.
“[A trans person can feel safe, informed, and embrace themselves through] access but it continues with community and strengthens through sisterhood. I was built by the stories of my sisters, and I want to be that sister to someone else,” Red as she ended her speech.
The World Equality Forum is among the activities leading up to the Miss International Queen 2026 coronation.
On Sunday, September 13, the pageant also hosted the National Costume competition and Talent Quest. Spiegelman showcased her Philippine-eagle inspired national costume and performed a Tausug-inspired dance during the talent competition.
She is vying to bring home the Philippines’ fourth Miss International Queen crown, following the victories of Kevin Balot in 2012, Trixie Maristela in 2015, and Fuschia Anne Ravena in 2022.
The coronation night is set for September 19 in Thailand.