Miss Sahhara (stylized as Miss saHHara) is a British Nigerian beauty queen and

human rights advocate A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

. With her 2011 participation in Miss International Queen, a beauty pageant in

Pattaya Pattaya ( th, พัทยา, , ) is a city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, within, but not part of, Bang Lamung district in the province of Chonburi province, Chonburi. Pattaya City ( ...

for transgender women, Miss Sahhara became the first trans woman from Nigeria to come out in the international press. She subsequently founded a global transgender awareness news curation organisation called TransValid.

Biography

Miss Sahhara grew up in a small village in northern Nigeria. Her grandmother, who raised her while her mother was away at university, supported her in expressing her gender identity, but her neighbors and other family members were less supportive. As a teenager who wanted to wear makeup, dresses, and high heels, she was bullied at home and in public for her gender expression, suffering physical and sexual assault, harassment, and death threats. Her uncles beat her, and her church told her she was possessed by evil spirits. After two suicide attempts as a teenager, and being imprisoned for her gender presentation in January of 2004, Miss Sahhara resolved to either leave Nigeria or succeed in completing suicide. Later in 2004, she emigrated to London, where she was able to meet other transgender women, access

gender-affirming care Transgender health care, also known as gender-affirming care, includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions, as well as sex reassignment therapies, for transgender individuals.Gorton N, Grubb HM (2014) ...

, and live openly as a woman. Miss Sahhara graduated with a Master's degree in

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from London Metropolitan University in 2011.

Pageants and modeling

Miss Sahhara has participated in a number of pageants in the UK and abroad, representing her birth country of Nigeria to draw attention to the plight of the African LGBT community. She is also the founder and executive producer of transgender advocacy pageants Queen of Nations and

Miss Trans Global Miss Trans Global is an annual international pageant for transgender women. According to itself, it is the biggest international advocacy pageant for transgender women. The event broadcasts live on multiple social networking websites from Lo ...

. Miss Sahhara has appeared on the covers of transgender magazines Mask and TransLiving, and modeled for Ziad Ghanem on the London Fashion Week catwalk, as well as performing at Madam Jojo's Kitsch Cabaret in Soho before its 2014 closure.

Charity and advocacy

Miss Sahhara has been a vocal critic of the 2014 Nigerian Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, which imposes prison terms of up to 14 years on LGBT Nigerians. In 2014, Miss Sahhara founded TransValid, a global awareness organization for the transgender community. Her activities with TransValid have included a 2015 short film, ''The Deadly Price of Transphobia in Brazil'', and a 2016 campaign titled '''I am Trans and I have the Right to Life . Miss Sahhara has discussed transgender rights on Sky Living's "Lady Boys", Eat Bulaga!'s "Super Sireyna Worldwide", BBC's "In Her Shoes: #BBCIdentity", and a Tunay Na Buhay interview with Rhea Santos.

Notes

References

External links

Miss saHHara's Official Website

Tranvalid Organisation
{{DEFAULTSORT:saHHara, Miss Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British LGBT people 21st-century British women singers 21st-century Nigerian LGBT people 21st-century Nigerian women singers Activists from London Alumni of London Metropolitan University British female models British LGBT rights activists British LGBT singers British transgender women British women activists Human rights activists Models from London Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Nigerian female models Nigerian LGBT rights activists Nigerian LGBT singers Nigerian transgender women Nigerian women activists Transgender female models Transgender rights activists Transgender singers Transgender women musicians Women civil rights activists