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Authorities of a Chennai-based private organization have decided to conduct a beauty pageant for the transgenders in December in Chennai.
"Transgenders are viewed as sex objects and are ridiculed. We want to change this perception," A.J. Hariharan, founder secretary of the Indian Community Welfare Organisation (ICWO) told.
About 150 transgenders from all the Indian states will be contesting for the title of Miss India Transgender. The sub-titles include Miss Beautiful Eyes, Miss Beautiful Hair and Miss Beautiful Skin.
"We expect around 2,000 people to witness the show of which 500-1,000 will be transgenders. Through press and other media we hope to reach out to one crore people," he said.
Discussions with NGOs and AIDS control organizations are being held so that they can also share the expenditure of this event.
When asked about the hatching of this idea, he said: "We were discussing various contests like cookery, music, song and dance and the like. Then it struck us to hold a beauty contest."
Both transgenders and famous personalities will constitute the judging panel.
He expects sponsorships from corporate sector also, either in the form of commercial opportunity or as a corporate social responsibility activity.
"There will be song and dance performances of transgenders who have made a mark in those fields."
Kalki Subramaniam, a transgender who runs the Sahodhari Foundation which works for the welfare of transgenders said: "It is a good idea to have a beauty contest, however, if it is only based on physical beauty, then I am not in favour of it."
"There should be some intellectual component to the contest also. And if there are questions to the participants they should not be AIDS related - that would be stereotyping the community," she added.
Subramaniam is also planning to hold a contest in November with more stress on the intellectual component.
