Tag Archives: beauty contest

Two Positive Trans Media Portrayals – UK and New Zealand’

Modupe-Adeyeye
Today I have two very recent positive portrayals of transgender persons in the media to share with you. The first one is unfortunately portrayed by a cisgender woman, Modupe Adeyeye, who will be playing the character of Blessing Chamber in the UK Soap Opera “Hollyoaks.”. I quote the actress:

She said: “I’m not transgender so I’ve had to do a lot of research into it. I wasn’t nervous, I was more excited. It’s a big responsibility, but I always think that you should challenge yourself and not run away from things that are hard. When things are easy, that’s when I get scared, because as an actor you need challenges, that’s what makes you stronger and better in your craft.”

Amy Brosnahan
The next portrayal does include an actual transgender person, in this case Amy Brosnahan of New Zealand, who is participating in a “Battle of the Babes” contest. Now there are many pretty transwomen, but What makes her case special is that she was originally banned from the contest, but was allowed in after the Human Rights Commission stepped in.
Her fellow contestants seem pleased with her presence:

At the Juice Bar in Parnell yesterday, the venue for tonight’s New Zealand’s final, Ms Brosnahan’s fellow competitors said they were looking forward to competing against her.

Finalist Shanise Siriana Wongchiu said she met Ms Brosnahan at the Auckland final.

“She was really nervous, she was just getting ready … she has full potential to actually win this.”

Ms Wongchiu said they bonded after realising Ms Brosnahan was also part-Samoan.

“I personally think good on her, it’s awesome,” finalist Shard McNeill said.

Transgender Student Inspires in All-Girl Pageant

There’s so much to like about this story. I wish that it could be repeated in so many more places.

A Chapman University senior became the first transgender contestant in the university’s annual all-woman pageant Wednesday night, winning the title of Miss Congeniality.

Addie Vincent, 21, faced off against 15 other competitors for the title of Miss Delta Queen, a competition organized by the university’s Greek system. The pageant’s winner was Alexandria Kessinger.

“Tonight was so awesome,” Vincent said after the pageant. “The fact that I was just able to compete was so amazing on its own.”

Throughout the contest, many of the 500 students and audience members whooped and hollered every time Vincent took the stage at Memorial Hall.

Following the poem, students shouted, “We love you Addie!” and gave Vincent the night’s only standing ovation.

“Addie has inspired so many people,” said Lauren Chouinard, a friend and former pageant contestant. “Addie sent a message so many people needed to hear.”

Each contestant was nominated by a campus fraternity or sorority. The Alpha Delta Phi fraternity chose Vincent with a 20-0 vote, with fraternity members saying they nominated the senior to show support for the transgender community.

I’m a little troubled by the fact that she had to be nominated by her fraternity, but that may just be a necessary incongruence.

Transgender student inspires at Chapman pageant – The Orange County Register.

Meet Winter Laike, Mr. Transman 2013 Winner

Mr Transman 2013Increasingly, we have witnessed either transwomen contestants in beauty contests, or even entire beauty contests for transwomen. But what about the transmen? Well ladies and fellas, let me give you a link to a video about the Mr. Transman 2013 contest, and an interview with its winner, Winter Laike!

Winter Laike, Mr. Transman 2013 Winner, Sits Down With HuffPost Live.

Transgender Beauty Queen Jenna Talackova Has Fashion Spread in Elle Canada

JennaTalackova
There’s a lot to like about Jenna Talackova. She’s well-spoken, an advocate for transgender rights who doesn’t try to downplay her past or her transgender status, and she’s photogenic to boot. She’s filming a reality TV series for E! Canada tentatively titled Brave New Girl, and now she has a fasion spread in Elle Canada, which you can read a little bit of here.

Transgender pageant star Jenna Talackova scores fashion spread in Elle Canada.

Thailand: 2013 Transgender Beauty Pageant Crowned

2013_ContestThere is a gallery of 10 photos from the contest at the link below. But one story which may be both bigger and also more nebulous to report on is that just in the few years I’ve been tracking transgender news, I’ve seen a gradual but persistent improvement in the way in which transgender persons are reported on in Chinese media. Sure, civil rights are still a serious problem in China, especially for transgender persons, but the change sometimes starts with the media and how it treats a marginalized group.

2013 transgender beauty pageant crowned – People’s Daily Online.

Take a Look at the Beautiful Dani St. James – Transwoman

According to the article, “…she is now a London nightclub manager and still keeps a photo of herself as Daniel.

She said: “I prefer to be seen as a woman but most people never guess.””

Beauty queen constestant was born a man | The Sun |News.