India has a new Miss Transqueen – and she’s on her way to the world stage, determined to speak out for the country’s marginalized transgender community.
Fashion designer Shaine Soni was crowned Miss Transqueen India on Saturday, the country’s beauty pageant for transgender women.. She will represent India at next year’s Miss International Queen, the world’s largest pageant for transgender women.
First established in 2017, Miss Transqueen India includes all the trappings of a traditional beauty pageant: photo shoots, talent shows, elaborate costumes, judges and hundreds of spectators.
This year, organizers were unable to hold the competition due to the pandemic, which led to a national lockdown from late March to May. But Reena Rai, president and founder of Miss Transqueen India, was not ready to give up; she was determined to send a participant to represent India the 2021 international election.
Transqueen India 2020 runner-up, Reena Rai (Founder, Miss Transqueen India), Shaine Soni, Nithu RS (Miss Transqueen India 2019), left to right. Credit: Miss Transqueen India
“My pageant isn’t just about beauty, it’s also about empowerment and inclusion,” Rai told CNN in a phone interview. “If I’m going to send someone without running a contest, then I have to make sure they are a very strong candidate, the best of the best, someone who knows the value of becoming (Miss) Transqueen India.”
Soni seemed the obvious choice; As a fashion designer and stylist whose work is well-known in the election circuit, she has previously helped participants coach their outfits. For years, she remained relatively quiet about her own transgender identity as she struggled for acceptance from her family and friends – but Rai encouraged her to step up for the title.
“She has always been a very strong backbone for Transqueen India,” said Rai. “I told her that because you’ve been with us and how important it is, and you’re struggling with coming out publicly, this might be the best platform to do this because it’s something that will draw strength to a lot of people and inspiration from. “
Participants in the Miss International Queen 2020 contest in Pattaya, Thailand, in March 2020. Credit: MLADEN ANTONOV / AFP / Getty Images
From bullied child to pageant queen
While Soni was born biologically male, she identified as a girl from an early age – and was confused and horrified when people around her started to insist she was a boy, telling her to act like that and feel to behave.
Growing up, she faced increasing pressure from family members and friends who would discourage her from growing long hair, wearing “girly” clothes or having “effeminate” mannerisms, she said on the phone. “With so much pressure and bullying around me, I felt desperate that I was different and that there was a problem in me. “
She found some relief when she began conducting research as a teenager and came across information about gender identity and gender affirmation operations. She eventually left home at the age of 17, trained in fashion and made the switch to hormone therapy a few years later – a process she 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 at Miss International Queen next year. Credit: Thanks to Shaine Soni
Soni never officially came to her family, but they kept in touch after she passed over – with a big “elephant in the room we don’t point out”.
She graduated from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, started her own label, won a reality design show and started a career as a stylist – that’s how she got to know Rai.
“When Reena approached me for Miss Transqueen India for the first season in 2017, I was always there to support her, but I didn’t feel comfortable coming out at the time due to family pressure,” said Soni. She helped direct the show from behind the scenes – all the while getting involved with LGBTQ advocacy. In recent years, she and other activists in the country have campaigned for greater representation of LGBTQs and accurate information in school curricula and textbooks.
Now, says Soni, she is ready to take the stage publicly as Miss Transqueen India.
“I am in a place where I can accept this title because I have been through so much and know how difficult it is to be where I am now,” she said. “When someone reads about me and finds comfort, I think my goal has been absolutely achieved.”
Violence and Fear in India’s LGBTQ Community
India’s stance on LGBTQ issues is still very conservative, and the transgender community is one of the most marginalized in the country. The social stigma is so strong that many who come out are rejected by society, rejected by family members or blocked from access to education and jobs.
Victims of abuse by transgender people have reported a few the police don’t take them seriously or wipe their cases. Even when a case goes to court, the punishment for rape or sexual assault is often lighter when the victim is transgender, compared to a cisgender woman.
This is the environment Rai set out 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. Credit: Raj K Raj / Hindustan Times / Getty Images
“People mock them for wearing red lipstick or putting on stilettos … I wanted to create a platform where people would cheer them on for wearing red lipstick and putting on stilettos.” she said. “I wanted to create a realization that all they need is a platform, and that they can do anything like all of us if they get the chance.”
She suffered a backlash almost immediately. The pageant failed to attract sponsors or designers, she recalled some designers told her they wouldn’t provide clothes because “if a transgender woman wears it, normal girls won’t wear it.” Others couldn’t understand why she was involved in advocacy if she wasn’t transgender herself. It was so difficult that Rai said them went bankrupt and had a mortgage on her house while organizing the pageant during his first year.
But with Soni and other supporters by her side, the show went on – and now it’s its fourth year in a row. They were even invited last year University and high school students to watch the pageant, hoping to educate younger generations about the LGBTQ community.
This year may not have the glamorous pageant and 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 election and their advocacy can help pave the way and impact how the world sees the LGBTQ people in India.
“It’s not just about me – it gives me the chance to hear the stories of those who have felt unheard of for years and can’t talk about what they are feeling,” Soni said. “I can be a voice for them.”