Team L&M
Delhi-based transgender female Naaz Joshi made India proud once again in the Pride month of June as she has won the title of Empress Earth 2021-22, thereby becoming the country’s first international Trans Beauty Queen with seven international crowns. Not only is Naaz the country’s first transgender international beauty queen, she is a trans rights activist, and a motivational speaker too.
Over the years, Naaz has won many beauty pageant titles including Miss Universe Diversity 2020, Miss World Diversity 2017-2020, Miss Republic International Beauty Ambassador and Miss United Nations Ambassador.
The Empress Earth 2021 contest was to take place in Dubai on June 1, 2021 but was cancelled due to a pandemic and on the advice of the contestants, it was held in virtual mode. In the online contest, more than 15 countries participated, with Colombia, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and India making it to the top five. The contestants were then given tasks along with evening gown and national costume presentation during the digital meeting. The final question to the top five finalists was: “Do you feel that lockdown is the solution to the pandemic?” To this, Naaz replied, “It is the a duty of every human being to take care of the safety measures as recommended by WHO and we queens should motivate others to stay calm and positive.”
The jury members included Likamatso Makutle from Lesotho who is the founder of Empress Earth, Mrs. Rita Gangwani from India, Adriga Biswas form Bangladesh, Dr. Thiagaraja from Sri Lanka, Gugu Cele from South Africa, Sir Williams from Nigeria and Mr. Prem Gada from India.
The signature crown of Empress Earth worth US$ 3,000 was designed by Pesha Creations is inspired by Mother Earth and studded with Swarovski crystals. The second runner-up crown was bagged by Ms Olivia from Mexico while the first runner-
