Two beauty pageant queens, Mariana Valera, former Miss Argentina, and Fabiola Valentin, former Miss Puerto Rico, announced this week on social media that they were officially married.
Their announcement created a lot of celebration among fellow beauty queens and the LGBTQ community, especially across Latin America, which has historically lagged behind when it came to gay rights but has made several advancements in recent times.
In an Instagram post that was shared on both beauty queens’ Instagram accounts, Mariana Valera and Fabiola Valentin wrote that after deciding that they would keep their relationship a private affair, changed their minds and decided to let the public in on their love life and let people know about their special day.
The sweet message, which had heart and ring emojis, included images of what looked like the day they got married, October 28, 2022.
The announcement, posted on Sunday, included a video that featured a montage of their entire relationship. It included videos of them on vacation, going out to bars, having a great time on the beach, and the special moment of their marriage proposal, which included a candlelit dinner and huge gold and silver balloons that read, ‘Marry me?’ The video’s climax was a photo of the two love birds kissing outside a San Juan courthouse in Puerto Rico, where they got married.
Valera, 26-years-old, and Valentin, 22-years-old, met last year in March when they were competing against each other in the Miss Grand International beauty pageant hosted in Thailand, where they were representing their countries.
Although neither of them went home with the Miss Grand International title, they managed to get to the top 10.
The video announcing their marriage posted just five days ago, has gotten a lot of traction, with more than 344,000 likes and over three million views on Instagram. The post’s comment section is also full of loving, congratulatory, and supportive messages from numerous fans, the LGBTQ community, and fellow pageant queens.
Valentina Figuera, Miss Grand International 2019, wrote a congratulatory message, and so did Danna Hernandez, Miss Universe 2017, who called them a beautiful couple and wished them blessings on their union.
Although same-sex marriage was illegal in Latin America, it was not until 2015 that Puerto Rico legalized it after the US Supreme Court’s decision which made bans on gay marriages unconstitutional. Argentina also legalized same-sex marriage a few years ago. In October this year, Mexico also legalized same-sex marriage.
