30-year-old financial planner Enrique Doleschy (above) has won the twelfth annual Mr. Gay Europe competition which took place this year in Poznan, Poland.
A Gay Pride parade was held in conjunction with the contest final and drew a couple hundred protesters, AFP reports: “Same-sex couples cannot marry or adopt children in Poland, which is one of Europe's most devout countries and where the Church continues to play a key social role in shaping attitudes.”
Said MGE President Tore Aasheim: “Mr Gay Europe is not a beauty contest. We are looking for genuine and real-life role-models for our LGBT communities across Europe and we are honoured by the fact that a trans person wanted and felt comfortable enough to take part. Niels proved himself to be a positive and significant addition to the group of delegates.”
The first runner up was software developer and the competition's first-ever transgender entrant, Niels Jansen.
The Mr. Gay Europe competition is won through a series of challenges – interview, written test, photo, congeniality, social media, individual project, sport, and online vote. You can check it out in the following videos:
