‘Catholic Arab’ wins the first ever Israeli transgender beauty pageant
21-year-old Ta’alin Abu Hanna, originally from Nazareth, has been crowned the winner of the first ever Miss Trans Star beauty pageant.
According to Gay Star News, Abu Hanna who identifies as a ‘Catholic Arab’ beat eleven other contestants as she wore a white bridal dress.
The contestants were judged on a question and answer segment as well as their swimwear and formalwear.
Abu Hanna spoke to the Jerusalem Post and said that she hopes the pageant will bring “more openness towards trans people in Israel and maybe the world. And will help people know who we are.”
Abu Hanna is thankful that she had been in Israel, “If I had not been in Israel and had been elsewhere – in Palestine or in any other Arab country – I might have been oppressed or I might have been in prison or murdered.”
As the winner, Hanna will receive $15,000 (Around £10,250) in plastic surgery treatments at a Thai hospital as well as flights and accommodation.
According to the Jerusalem Post, hundreds of trans women had contacted the organisers of the event but only 12 passed through to the final.
Abu Hanna will represent Israel in September at the Miss Trans Star International pageant in Barcelona.
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