RUNWAY READY - Trans Beauty Lights Up "Korea's Next Top Model"BY: J.C. ADAMS
ON: AUG 17, 2012
http://www.queerty.com/trans-beauty-lights-up-koreas-next-top-model-20120817/Season Three of Korea's Next Top Model features among its cast of aspiring fashionistas Choi Han-bit, who is transgender.
Choi, 26, studied traditional dance in college. With the support of her parents, she received gender-reassignment surgery six years ago and changed her name, which means "ray of sunshine."
In a 2009 interview with Korea Times, she said "self-confidence" was her coping mechanism for dealing with intolerance: "I have found many sexual minorities who distanced themselves from society to avoid public exposure," Choi explained. "I would like to advise them not to hide and [to] come out. With a fear of public attention, it's all but impossible to change people's attitude toward us."
Excellent advice for anyone, LGB or T.
The Korea Herald dubbed Choi South Korea's first transgender supermodel after she advanced to the finals of a modeling contest sponsored by the Seoul Broadcasting System.
