José Lopez Is Mr Gay World 2022, Max Appenroth Makes History As First Trans Runner-Up – Star Observer

Puerto Rico’s José Lopez was crowned Mr Gay World 2022  on Sunday, while second runner-up, Germany’s Max Appenroth, made history as the first trans finalist in the pageant. Tony Ardolino from the United States of America was named as  first runner up. 

Thirty-two year-old Lopez in a statement posted to social media after his win, said winning the title was an opportunity to be a “spokesperson and an ambassador” for the LGBTQI community. He also outlined his plans to create awareness about mental health and body dysmorphia, which he lived with as a child.

Around eight contestants from across the world made it to the finals, which were held in South Africa on Sunday, October 16, 2022.

Front-runner And Favourite

Model and actor Lopez was the clear frontrunner and favourite to win the competition. He won Best Social Media Presence, Best in National Costume, Best Sports Challenge, Best in Swimwear and Best in Formal Wear categories, before going on to be crowned the winner.

“Behind the triumph, there are many months of preparation and a great team – without them this would not have been possible,” said Lopez. 

“I suffered a lot of discrimination from being obese and because of problems in being able to communicate properly,” Lopez told the judges during the contest, and thanked his mother for her love that helped him carry on.

Lopez said that his own experiences was the reason he had created his platform around “body dysmorphia, to help young people not go through the problems I went through. And that’s why I want to be Mr Gay World, to use the platform to communicate a powerful message to the world.”

‘More Than A Beauty Pageant’

Second runner up Mr Gay Germany Max Appenroth (35), who had already made history as the first transgender person in the competition, said the contest was “one of the biggest journeys I have ever made!”

“Like Mr Gay Germany, Mr Gay World is much more than just a beauty pageant. At the center of the contest stand our activism and our campaigns, which we carry through Mr. Gay World out into the world. We’re here to learn from each other and to amplify each other’s voices,” Appenroth, a trans activist and doctoral student at the Institute for Public Health at the  Charité Universeitätsmediz in Berlin,  posted on Instagram before the competition. 

In June 2021, Mr Gay World announced that it had “amended its policy to  encompass the male identifying spectrum within the LGBTQ+ community.”

The organisation had said the competition was “open to anyone who identifies  as male, using him and his pronouns and who collectively identifies as  male.”

“The title winner would be crowned as Mr. Gay World and it is for this  reason that all entrants should identify in this way…its primary focus is that  of the gay and male-identifying demographic of society,” the organisation had said.

Gay And Male-Identifying

Eric Butter, President and Founder of Mr Gay World organisation, which organises the contest, reiterated that the contest was more than a beauty pageant.

This year’s competition was the first in person one to be held after two years due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

“Mr Gay World is collective space to see the coming together of the gay men across the world, to share an international stage and amplify their purpose in sole pursuit of equal access to human rights, social and political acceptance, tolerance, and inclusion. I am sure that Lopéz will ignite and sustain such light in many years to come,” Butler said in a statement.

South African human rights activist and TV presenter Louw Breytenbach, was the winner of the Mr Gay World 2021 title, but resigned two months citing “value differences” with the organisation. Subsequently, Joel Rey Carcasona from the Philippines was named as Mr Gay World 2021.