Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN)– Filipino beauty queen Fuschia Anne Ravenna has won the 2022 Miss International Queen contest, a contest that organizers have described as the world’s largest beauty pageant for transgender women.
The 27-year-old entrepreneur, who hails from Cebu province in the Philippines, won the title during a televised closing event in the Thai city of Pattaya on Saturday.
The Miss International Queen contest was launched in 2004 and is open to transgender women who were identified as male at birth.
Normally, this event is held annually, but was canceled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s event was held to coincide with Pride Month, under the title of Pride Together.
Rafina was one of the 23 contestants who participated in the competition, and the Colombian Yasmine Jiménez, and the French Ella Chanel, ranked second and third, respectively.
The final event, which was broadcast live, saw the contestants appearing on stage in evening dresses and national costumes.
In the question-and-answer segment, Ravenna said the goal of being a transgender beauty queen was to “inspire others”.
In a video posted by competition organizers ahead of the show, Ravenna stated that her journey as a transgender “has not been easy”, stressing that “there is still a long way to go for the transgender community in the fight for equality.”
Ravina was awarded 450,000 Thai baht ($12,700) as a prize money, as well as various gifts from sponsors.
