CEBU, Philippines – Transgender contestants from 17 countries competed in this year’s Miss International Queen beauty pageant in the resort city of Pattaya, Thailand – the trans community’s most prestigious contest – with Miss Philippines nabbing the highly-coveted crown, according to a report from the dailymail.co.uk.
Trixie Maristela, 29, broke down in tears as she was named the 2015 winner Friday, while Valesca Dominik Ferraz of Brazil and Sopida Siriwattananukoon of Thailand were declared first runner-up and second runner-up, respectively.
“The reason I wanted to join Miss International Queen 2015 is, I believe in its vision of uplifting the trans community by staging an international beauty pageant and I want to be part of it,” Trixie said in a video during the competition.
She is the second Filipino to win the tilt, after Kevin Balot’s victory in 2012.
The beauty queen, who also won Miss Gay Manila this year, graduated from the University of the Philippines with a degree in European languages, and also plays the violin. She is currently a law student who won the “Super Sireyna” gay beauty pageant on noontime show “Eat Bulaga” last year.
Trixie beat out 26 other contestants to win the prize, which is a huge honor in the transgender community. Her prizes include 400,000 baht ($11,161) and the option of free cosmetic surgery in Bangkok.
Miss International Queen is open to transgender women, which can be pre or post gender reassignment surgery, between the ages of 18 and 36.
Like the Miss Universe pageant, the competition includes a swimsuit and evening wear portion, and a round in which contestants also wear traditional garb from their country of origin.
Trixie donned a traditional Thai outfit, paying homage to the country hosting the event.
Miss International Queen, organized by Thailand’s transgender cabaret show Tiffany’s, is held annually in Pattaya and aims to create transgender rights awareness among international communities.
Since its start in 2004, past winners include contestants from Thailand, the US, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Venezuela and the Philippines.
Thailand has no laws recognizing same-sex unions. However, it has a very strong lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, with many being a part of the country’s entertainment industry.