Transgender beauty pageant to debut in India

The first annual Miss India contest, a beauty pageant for transgender women, will be held on Dec. 19 in Chennai, the Times of India reported Sept. 2.

India's non-profit organizations are coming together to plan the event in the hopes that it will unite the community and battle social stigma against transgender people in the country.

"We had a meeting of the transgender community last week, where we discussed various events to bring together the community members across the country and spread awareness on better living," Indian Community Welfare Organization secretary A. J. Hariharan told the Times.

"Recreation camps, sports meets and marathons were discussed, but finally everyone was excited about the idea of a national level beauty pageant for the community members. So far only local communities have been organizing such events."

Besides the top title of Miss India, contestants will be eligible to win Miss Beautiful Hair, Miss Beautiful Eyes, and Miss Beautiful Skin.