Chennai transgender model to compete in international pageant
October 13th, 2011 - 10:40 pm ICT by IANS
Chennai, Oct 13 (IANS) City-based transgender model Malaika, 28, will represent India in the Miss International Queen 2011, a beauty contest for members of the community to be held in Thailand next month.
The annual competition has been held every year since 2004 by Tiffany’s Show Pattaya Co. Ltd. in partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Malaika, who has done a catering and hotel management course, said: “Today there are transgender community members who have become role models and with the level of recognition they are receiving from the society, many of them are excelling in various fields ranging from arts to even entertainment.”
“I wanted to show to the world that members of the transgender community can perform the same way as any other female model, which is why I decided to take part in this competition,” Malaika added.
Jaya, general manager at Sahodaran, an NGO working for men’s sexual health, said: “Malaika, an active member of Sahodaran since 1998, is the first transgender from India to participate and represent the country in the beauty contest.”
Jaya said the aim of the beauty contest was to create a public platform for the transgender community, create awareness about the rights of sexual minorities, and change the perceptions of the general community towards transgenders.
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Tags: active member, aim, beauty contest, community members, female model, hotel management course, India, international pageant, miss international, ngo, partnership, pattaya, perceptions, public platform, queen, role models, sexual health, sexual minorities, tiffany, tourism authority of thailand