Miss Trans Global is an annual international

pageant Pageant may refer to: * Procession or ceremony in elaborate costume * Beauty pageant, or beauty contest * Latter Day Saint plays and pageants, run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or by members local to the area of the pageant * ...

for

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

. According to itself, it is the biggest international

advocacy Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...

pageant for transgender women. The event broadcasts live on multiple social networking websites from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It has gained traction for transgender advocacy, raising awareness about queer culture and

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

concerns, particularly in countries where

transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

and

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

are prevalent. The pageant presents itself as a safe space for transgender women to share their lived experiences through speeches, talent shows, and art. Mela Habijan of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

won the first edition of Miss Trans Global in an event held virtually on September 12, 2020. Sruthy Sithara of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

won the second edition where she was the first Indian transgender woman to win an international transgender pageant. The current winner is Natasha Cardoso of Brazil, winning the title on the 31st of November, 2022, in a digital event.

History

The pageant was founded by Miss Sahhara, a transgender activist, and beauty queen who was behind Queen of Nations, another pageant for transgender women which has been held in the United Kingdom for the past 13 years. According to Sahhara, she and her team thought of holding the 10th edition of Queen of Nations in 2017 online. Instead, they decided to launch a new title which is mainly geared towards transgender advocacy, education, and trans-empowerment through multiple digital platforms. They aimed to create an inclusive and accessible space for all transgender women from diverse backgrounds to express themselves on an international stage without leaving their homes or country. According to Miss Sahhara, "Miss Trans Global was conceived in 2017 but realized during isolation in 2020. Our communities around the world are often either stuck at home with transphobic family members or homeless due to family rejection. Many of us are misunderstood at home and marginalized in society. Also, we have limited earning opportunities. So, we decided to help address some of these issues by engaging our online global community through the Miss Trans Global Digital Pageant". The organizing team includes Sally Adams, a media and entertainment lawyer, Rica Paras, an information technology professional, and Imanni Da Silva, a model, artist, television presenter, and social activist.

The exclusion of transgender contestants in pageantry

In 2019, transgender pageant winner Anita Green filed a suit against Miss United States LLC on the grounds of gender identity discrimination. Green entered a franchise of Miss United States after participating in

Miss Earth United States Miss Earth USA (formerly Miss Earth United States) is an annual beauty pageant which selects the United States representative to Miss Earth which is an annual international beauty pageant promoting environmental awareness. The current titleholde ...

, but was refused entry because of the competition rule which states that only a '''natural born female is allowed to participate. A federal court dismissed Green's discrimination case against the pageant. The court filing submitted by Miss United States constantly misgendered Green and used derogatory words to invalidate the complainant's gender identity. Miss United States also says that allowing transgender women to compete in their competition would "undermine its vision" and would undermine their "message of biological female empowerment." John T. Kaempf, the Miss United States pageant's lawyer praised the dismissal of Green's lawsuit, stating that the pageant "is not anti-transgender." "Miss United States wants to be able to hold a pageant that is only for biological females,". He stated that the organisation "believes there can be a Miss Black USA pageant, a Miss Native American pageant, or a transgender pageant." In an interview with

KGW KGW (channel 8) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Jefferson Street in southwestern Portland, and its transmitter is located in the city' ...

, Green said, "I compete in pageantry to show that there are many different types of beauty... To me, that rule was saying that transgender women aren't women, and that sends a very harmful message." Unperturbed by the news of the dismissal of her case, Green said “she is not giving up on her fight for justice for transgender women, and she is very proud of her achievement in raising awareness about the discrimination

women face in pageantry”. "This case brought awareness to an issue many people were and still are unaware of," Green told Oregon Live, "and that issue is that discrimination against transgender people is still actively happening in the private and public sector even within the pageant circuit."

The exclusion of transgender women from female only spaces

Some transgender activists have affirmed that the exclusion of transgender women from female-only spaces such as sports, pageants, and bathrooms has necessitated the creation of dedicated spaces for transgender people. Others argue that it may foster segregation. Sociologist and feminist campaigner

Finn Mackay Finn Mackay (born 1977/1978) is a British sociologist and Radical feminism, radical trans feminist campaigner. Mackay is a lecturer in sociology at the University of Bristol and identifies as "a queer Butch (lesbian slang), butch, or transmasc ...

stated in an interview with

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, that reducing womanhood to fertility and genitals trivialises the damage done by patriarchy influenced by politics when it comes to sexuality and gender. "They do it for ideological reasons, as part of a campaign for trans exclusion. When people turn round and say: 'This is a dog whistle' – of course it is! Otherwise, why would you be chatting about people's genitals?" Mackay asked.

Recent success

Miss USA, a franchise of

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

, started allowing

women in their pageant in 2012. The pageant's first transgender state representative was

Kataluna Enriquez Kataluna Patricia Enriquez is an American beauty pageant titleholder. In March 2021, she won the Miss Silver State USA pageant. On June 27, 2021, she was crowned Miss Nevada USA. With her wins, she became the first openly transgender woman to ea ...

, winner of

Miss Nevada USA The Miss Nevada USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Nevada in the Miss USA pageant. While Nevada did well in the early years of the Miss USA pageant, they only placed once from 1987 to 2000. This str ...

. Enriquez served as a judge in the first edition of Miss Trans Global.

Goal

The main premise of Miss Trans Global is to "revolutionize pageantry" by including transgender women in mainstream beauty pageantry, and to raise awareness for trans issues. Many of the contestants are also transgender rights activists. Their advocacies are heavily influenced by transphobic violence, including domestic violence, discrimination, and the murders of transgender women globally. An associate of the Miss Trans Global's team, Yunieski Carey Herrera, was murdered by her partner on November 17, 2020, in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. She was crowned Miss Trans Global in 2019.

Advocacy

According to the organisation, the top 5 winners of Miss Trans Global work as spokespersons on transgender and LGBT issues worldwide. They claim to work closely with activist organisations such as TransValid, TransBeauty

Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

, TransGriot, to educate cisgender people and inspire transgender people globally. The organisation started an initiative called '''For Trans Women by Trans Women, where a group of transgender women from different countries come together to raise awareness about issues that affect their local communities. The organizers said that Miss Trans Global "is not about a beautiful face and perfect body" but rather "about activism, charity, and intelligence". The pageant says the winners will serve as spokespeople "and work digitally to influence positive changes in our community internationally." The pageant considers itself as a digital and physical space for transgender women from different backgrounds who are driven through activism to highlight the plight of

people in their various countries. The participants share their lived experiences through the use of digital content production and publishing through the guidance of the organisation.

Competition and selection of winners

The organizers of the competition described it as "the future of international trans pageantry", because of its accessibility and ease of participation. The contestants execute the various tasks at home and submit videos to the judges. The winners are selected based on the scores given by the judges.

Competition format

Contestants are given a creative challenge once a week. They film and produce a submission video in accordance with the rules and guidelines stipulated by the pageant directors. The judges then review their performances and score the contestants accordingly.

Judging

The judges are seasoned female transgender activists and pageant queens who have fought for transgender rights in their various countries.

Awards

Miss Trans Global and its runner-up awards are the adaption of the female

British nobility The British nobility is made up of the peerage and the (landed) gentry. The nobility of its four constituent home nations has played a major role in shaping the history of the country, although now they retain only the rights to stand for election ...

titles, namely: * Queen Global, Miss Trans Global — Winner * Duchess Global — First runner-up * Marchioness Global — Second runner-up * Countess Global — Third runner-up * Baroness Global — Fourth runner-up The organisation's definition of a queen is a transgender woman who uses their voice for the voiceless and someone who marries the ambition of helping marginalised transgender community that are often discriminated against due to misconceptions.

The inaugural event

The inaugural competition, which took place on September 12, 2020, focused on transgender people suffering in isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It included participants from countries around the world. Miss Mela Franco Habijan from the Philippines became the first ever winner of the competition, in a coronation ceremony streamed live on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

. The pageant's inaugural judges were: *

Monica Roberts Monica Katrice Roberts (May 4, 1962October 5, 2020) was an African-American blogger, writer, and transgender rights advocate. She was the founding editor of ''TransGriot'', a blog focusing on issues pertaining to trans women, particularly Africa ...

, a notable transgender rights advocate and journalist in the United States who died on October 5, 2020 * Candi Stratton, a flight attendant, beauty queen, and transgender rights advocate * Michelle Ross, founder-director of CliniQ Counselling and Wellbeing * Kataluna Enriquez, Miss Nevada USA and fashion designer * Victoria Maxima Caram,

Miss Trans Star International Miss trans Star International (formerly Miss trans Star Internacional) is a beauty pageant for transgender women. It was first held in 2010 in Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. The winner receives a crown and prize money. The election was organized b ...

executive director * Amanda Uzoma McQueens, founder of Friends in Diaspora for Friends in Africa

Titleholders

Gallery of Miss Trans Global 2020 winners

File:Trans_Global_2020_Official_Photoshhot.jpg, Miss Trans Global 2020
Mela Franco Habijan

File:Rebeckah Loveday.png, Duchess Global 2020
Rebeckah Loveday

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

File:Veso Golden, Marchioness Global 2020-4.jpg, Marchioness Global 2020
Veso Golden

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

File:Semakaleng Sma Mothapo, Countess Global 2020.jpg, Countess Global 2020
Semakaleng Sma Mothapo

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

File:Danielly Drugge, Baroness Global 2020-5.jpg, Baroness Global 2020
Danielly Drugge

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

List of Runners-up

References

{{reflist, 2 Beauty pageants Transgender beauty pageants Recurring events established in 2020 LGBT events in the United Kingdom Virtual events LGBT beauty pageants 2020 establishments in England