Qatrisha Zairyah is the first married trans woman to be a finalist in a Miss Universe Singapore pageant. - Instagram/qatrisha_zairyah
SINGAPORE: Since Miss Universe Singapore, widely regarded as the biggest pageant in the city state, announced that a transgender woman had made the finals last week, beauty queen Qatrisha Zairyah has had to deal with online vitriol.
The 1.8-metre-tall (5.9 feet) fashion adviser, 33, has competed in the biggest beauty competitions locally and abroad for transgender women, finishing among the top four in most of them, and told This Week in Asia she wanted to test herself on the biggest stage.
“It’s once in a lifetime. This is the biggest pageant in the world,” Qatrisha said.
The Miss Universe Organisation has allowed transgender contestants who are legally women to participate since 2012, and countries including Portugal, the Netherlands and Spain have been represented by such beauty queens.
If Qatrisha wins the Singapore pageant, she will be the first transgender woman from Asia to compete in the international Miss Universe contest.
However, since the announcement last week that a transgender woman had made the finals for the first time in the local pageant’s 70-year history, online users in the conservative city state have been critical.
In social media comments, one user wrote: “Should have a pageant on its own, LadyBoy Universe”, while another questioned: “Is it FAIR for the finalist to be naturally born a man with the genetics and height of a MAN yet compete against all the other contestants who are naturally born a female?”
Qatrisha called such comments painful and said: “I wish that I was a natural-born female. I always wish that. But in my situation, I do have a path, and I believe that this path has challenges and struggles, but there’s always a way out to success, so I just have to embrace and adapt.”
Elaine Daly, national director for Miss Universe 2024, told This Week in Asia that while pageant organisers strove to create an inclusive environment, they understood that such a significant change might “elicit diverse reactions”.
“While we acknowledged the possibility of negative feedback, we were more focused on the positive impact that this decision could have on the trans community and is in line with the Miss Universe directive to ensure a pageant that is diverse and prioritises inclusivity,” Daly said.
She pointed out that the aim was to challenge outdated beauty standards and stereotypes. “We view this as a natural evolution of the pageant, aligning with our commitment to celebrating beauty in all its forms and creating a platform for positive change.”
Qatrisha said that aside from shedding light on being a transgender woman, she hoped to share her relatable struggles, such as trying to make ends meet and moving out at an early age.
Growing up in a devout Muslim household, she recognised her identity from a young age, knowing she wanted to be a woman since kindergarten and loved wearing her sister’s clothes.
As a teenager, she would cross-dress and wear make-up and a wig when she was out with her friends, always changing back before returning home.
While her mother knew about her preferences and would discourage her from acting on them, her father was angry when he discovered her cross-dressing after bumping into her near their family home in 2012.
A few weeks later, she moved out to prevent her parents from arguing about her.
She rented a room in a public housing flat for S$500 while earning S$1,200 a month working in retail and began taking hormone pills. Her family has since grown to accept her and they have a cordial relationship.
Qatrisha underwent gender reassignment surgery in Thailand and legally transitioned to become a woman in 2017. She estimates the total cost of her surgeries and medication exceeded S$10,000 (US$7,640).
This legal recognition enabled her to marry her husband, 32, whom she met during national service, and to apply for public housing, as marriages between men are not recognised in Singapore.
In 2021, she entered a local trans pageant, Miss Equality World Singapore, and emerged victorious. This achievement led her to compete in the international pageant in Barcelona, where she finished as third runner-up.
“I was shocked; I competed with all the Latinas around the world, internationally. I didn’t know that I could go this far. Then I tried again,” Qatrisha said.
As the pageant scene for transgender women in Singapore is limited, Qatrisha and other transgender beauty queens have to travel to countries such as Thailand for competition experience.
The Miss Universe pageant was bought by Thai transgender business mogul Anne Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip in 2022. She bought the pageant from IMG as its first woman owner – former US president Donald Trump ran it before that.
Qatrisha represented Singapore at last year’s Miss International Queen, widely considered to be the world’s largest transgender pageant, and came in second. While pleased with her result, she decided to end her pageant career.
But then Miss Universe Singapore announced it would loosen restrictions in a bid to be more inclusive. This year’s competition is now open to Singapore citizens aged 18 and older who are married, divorced or have children, with no upper age limit.
Previously, the pageant was limited to women between the ages of 18 and 28 who were single and had never married.
Qatrisha said she hoped her story would help ease prejudice against the transgender community, as she noted that the road ahead for trans youth in Singapore was not an easy one.
“In Singapore, it’s very hard for trans youth, because, unless you’re in European countries or where you can be more openly accepted, there are a lot of mental health struggles. Because they can’t be what they want to be, and they can’t open up to their parents,” she said.
“I hope my story is able to relate to the younger generation who face similar challenges as me or the path that I’m going through.” - South China Morning Post
