Pinay transgender Trixie Maristela is 2015 Miss Int’l Queen

MANILA, Philippines - Filipina transgender Trixie Maristela beat 26 other aspirants for the 2015 Miss International Queen Friday night at the Tiffany’s Theater in Pattaya, Thailand. She is the second Filipina to bag the crown after Kevin Balot in 2012.

Supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the pageant started in 2004, open to transgender women aged 18 to 36 from around the world. Proceeds from the pageant are donated to Thailand’s Royal AIDS Foundation.

Her prizes included 400,000 baht (roughly P526,400) cash and gifts from the sponsors. Her runners-up were Valesca Dominic Ferraz of Brazil (first) and Supida Siriwattananukoon of Thailand (second). The other two Philippine bets, Francine Garcia and Michelle Binas, made it to the Top 10 semi-finalists. 

A Pasig City resident, Trixie, 29, is a BA European Languages graduate from the UP Diliman, who aspires to be a human rights lawyer. A multi-awarded, she was 2015 Miss Gay Manila, 2014 Super Sireyna Worldwide first runner-up, 2014 Super Sireyna Philippines, 2014 Super Sireyna Queen of the Sky, 2011 Manila’s Five Prettiest, 2011 Miss Gay Philippines-Universe and 2009 Amazing Philippine Beauties first runner-up. Super Sireyna is a pageant for exceptional individuals on GMA 7’s Eat, Bulaga!

She’s a Viva Artists Agency contract star.

Special awardees were Satsuki of Japan, Miss Photogenic; Nicole Fontanelli of Italy, Best Evening Gown; Sofiya Iya of Australia, Best National Costume; Dayana Valenzuela of Peru, Miss Friendly; Taliah of Australia, Best Talent and Supida Siriwattananukoon of Thailand, Miss Ripley’s Popular Vote.

Other transgender beauties who competed were from Mexico, Belgium, France, USA, Turkey, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Mauritius. 

Besides her regal bearing, Trixie impressed the judges with her intelligence.

To the question “How do you compare beauty inside and beauty outside?,” Trixie answered, “Beauty from the inside starts from the heart but beauty from outside is just a physical appearance. In the end, what matters is…beauty in the inside will radiate outside because a true queen does not want just a beautiful face or golden crown but a true queen also possess a golden heart.“

In an interview with PEP, Trixie confessed, “I still can’t believe that I won. Right now, I don’t know what I’m gonna do next but I’m very thankful to be given this chance to be Miss International Queen, a very prestigious pageant for transgender like me…This kind of pageant empowers transwomen like us because Thailand, especially the organizers of Miss International Queen, made us feel that we’re very important people and because of that, we gained confidence and we’re empowered to do whatever it is…It feels overwhelming and I feel so blessed winning two crowns (Miss Gay Manila and Miss International Queen) at the same time. I dedicate this to my family and most specially to my trans-family not just in the Philippines but in the world.”