Taiwan’s Filipino LGBTQ community showed up in vibrant colors on Sunday for The Search for Ms. Queen International, 2021. Organizers say the goal of the beauty pageant is to fight against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
More than a thousand people turned out to cheer on the contestants at the Southern Taoyuan Youth Activity Center. Over two dozen contestants worked the runway in heels and elaborate costumes, vying for the title.
The event’s head organizer is 26-year-old Virgilio Allam Bosi Jr. He told Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) that he hopes that the Philippines can be as open as Taiwan when it comes to the LGBT community.
The winner of the pageant is 38-year-old Tiffany Lee, a trans woman who has lived in Taiwan since 2006. She told CNA about the hardships she endured growing up, facing bullying and physical abuse from a young age. She said that the pageant shows how much people in the LGBT community have to offer.
Organizers say that Sunday’s event raised NT$65,000 (nearly US$2,300) for people in need in the Philippines.