India crowns new Miss Transqueen

India has a new Miss Transqueen – and is heading for the world stage, determined to speak for the country’s marginalized transgender community.

Fashion designer Shaine Soni was crowned Miss Transqueen India on Saturday, the country’s beauty pageant for trans women. She will represent India at next year’s Miss International Queen, the world’s largest pageant for transgender women.

Miss Transqueen India was first established in 2017 and involves all the pitfalls of a traditional beauty pageant – photo shoots, rounds of talent, elaborate costumes, judges and hundreds of members of the public.

This year, the organizers failed to organize the competition due to the pandemic, which caused the national blockade from late March to May. But Reena Rai, president and founder of Miss Transqueen India, was not ready to give up; was determined to send a competitor to represent India in the 2021 international competition.

Transqueen India 2020 finalist, Reena Rai (founder, Miss Transqueen India), Shaine Soni, Nithu RS (Miss Transqueen India 2019), from left to right.

Transqueen India 2020 finalist, Reena Rai (founder, Miss Transqueen India), Shaine Soni, Nithu RS (Miss Transqueen India 2019), from left to right. Credit: Miss Transqueen India

“My contest is not just about beauty, it’s about empowerment and inclusion,” Rai told CNN in a telephone interview. “If I’m going to send someone without a contest, then I have to make sure I’m a very strong candidate, the best of the best, someone who knows the value (of becoming Miss) of Transqueen India.”

Soni seemed to be the obvious choice; as a fashion designer and stylist whose activity is known on the competition circuit, she previously helped train the competitors and choose their outfits. For years, she remained relatively silent about her own transgender identity as she struggled for acceptance from family and friends – but Rai encouraged her to take a step forward to win the title.

“It has always been a very strong backbone for Transqueen India,” Rai said. “I told him that because you were with us and how important it is and because you fought to go out in public, this might be the best platform to do that, because it’s something that a lot of people do. of people will draw strength and inspiration from. “

Contestants at the Miss International Queen 2020 pageant in Pattaya, Thailand, in March 2020.

Contestants at the Miss International Queen 2020 pageant in Pattaya, Thailand, in March 2020. Credit: MLADEN ANTONOV / AFP / Getty Images

From the abused child to the queen of the contest

While Soni was born biologically male, she identified as a girl from an early age – and was confused and dismayed when people around her began to insist she was a boy and told her to act and behaves like one.

As she grew older, she faced increasing pressure from relatives and friends who would discourage her from growing her hair long, wearing “girly” clothes or having “effeminate” manners, she said. on the phone. “It simply came to our notice then pressure and aggression around me, I felt desperately that I was different and that there was a problem in me. “

She found relief when, as a teenager, she began researching and came across information about gender identity and the gender confirmation operation. He left home at the age of 17, followed a fashionable education and went through hormone therapy a few years later – a process he described as “difficult”.

“Many of my friends gave up on me, they couldn’t understand,” she said. “But I was very determined, so I went ahead and did everything on my own.”

Shaine Soni will represent India next year at Miss International Queen.

Shaine Soni will represent India next year at Miss International Queen. Credit: Shaine Soni’s kindness

Soni never officially went out to her family, but they stayed in touch after the transition – with a big “elephant in the room that we don’t emphasize”.

He graduated from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, started his own label, won a reality design show and launched a career as a stylist – that’s how he met Rai.

“When Reena approached me for Miss Transqueen India for the first season in 2017, I was always there to support her, but I wasn’t comfortable going out at that time because of family pressure,” Soni said. She helped direct the backstage show – and at the same time became involved in LGBTQ advocacy. In recent years, she and other activists in the country they campaigned for greater LGBTQ representation and accurate information in the curriculum and textbooks.

All this time, there has been a growing conversation about LGBTQ issues and, in particular, about the visibility of the transgender around the world. Only this year, Soni watched the release of two high-quality transgender stars – actor Elliot Page, star “Juno” and “The Umbrella Academy”, and makeup artist Nikkie de Jager, better known as NikkiTutorials.

Now, says Soni, she is ready to take the public stage as Miss Transqueen India.

“I’m in a place where I can accept this title because I’ve been through so much and I know how hard it is to be where I am today,” she said. “If someone reads about me and finds comfort, I think my goal is absolutely fulfilled.”

Violence and fear in the LGBTQ community in India

India’s attitudes towards LGBTQ issues are still extremely conservative, and the transgender community is one of the most marginalized in the country. The social stigma is so strong that many of those who go out are ostracized by society, given up by family members or blocked access to education and jobs.

Some progress has been made; India’s Supreme Court handed down an important ruling in 2014, giving people the right to identify themselves as neither men nor women. The court issued instructions to various government ministries, including the addition of “third gender” or “transgender” as an option in all government documents.
But physical and sexual violence against transgender people remains extremely high. According to a 2014-2015 survey of nearly 5,000 transgender people by the National AIDS Control Organization, one-fifth said they had been sexually abused in the past 12 months.

Victims of transgender aggression have reported some the police do not take them seriously or do not wash their cases. Even if a case goes to court, the sentence for rape or sexual assault is often easier when the victim is transgender, compared to a Cisgen woman.

Harmful stereotypes in entertainment and the media continue to perpetuate public distrust and stigma. Just this year, critics hit a film depicting a protagonist possessed by a vengeful transgender ghost, claiming that it reinforced the discriminatory stereotypes of trans people as predators or associated with supernatural evil. It’s just the latest in a long history of Bollywood movies that mock and denigrate trans people.

This is the environment in which Rai struggled to change when she launched Miss Transqueen India in 2017. She identifies as cisgender, but became familiar with the LGBTQ community after meeting transgender people.

Neetu RS wins Miss Transqueen India 2019 in October 2019 in New Delhi, India.

Neetu RS wins Miss Transqueen India 2019 in October 2019 in New Delhi, India. Credit: Raj K Raj / Hindustan Times / Getty Images

“People make fun of them for wearing red lipstick or for wearing stilettos … I wanted to create a platform for people to applaud them for wearing red lipstick and wearing stilettos.” she said. “I wanted to create awareness that all they need is a platform and that they can do anything like the rest of us, if given the chance.”

He reacted almost immediately. The contest could not attract sponsors or designers and she remembered some designers told her they would not offer clothes because “once a transgender woman wears it, normal girls won’t wear it.” Others could not understand why she was involved in advocacy if she was not herself a transgender. It was so hard that Heaven said it went bankrupt and mortgaged his house during the competition first year.

But with Soni and other supporters by her side, the show continued – and now, for the fourth year in a row. Last year, they even invited university and high school students to watch the contest, hoping to teach younger generations about the LGBTQ community.

This year may not have the glamorous competition and the multi-day events of previous years, but Rai and Soni look to the future and their vision of a more acceptable India. They hope that the competition and their advocacy work can help pave the way and influence how the world sees LGBTQ people in India.

“It’s not just about me – it gives me the opportunity to hear the stories of those who have felt unheard of for years and can’t be vocal about how they feel,” Soni said. “I can be a voice for them.”

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