Transgender beauty pageant crown awarded to Miss Philippines
The Associated Press
Posted: Nov 3, 2012 8:08 AM ET Last Updated: Nov 3, 2012 8:05 AM ET
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Kevin Balot reacts after being crowned Miss International Queen 2012 (PHOTO: Damir Sagolj/Reuters)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2012/11/03/miss-international-queen-competition.html (http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2012/11/03/miss-international-queen-competition.html)
The finals of the 2012 Miss International Queen competition reached a colourful and spectacular climax in Thailand on Friday.
The event in Pattaya, 130 kilometres southeast of Bangkok, is fashioned after the Miss World beauty pageant — with the exception that each of the contestants has to have been born male.
At the end of an evening of lavish costumes and carefully choreographed routines, transgender Kevin Balot of the Philippines was crowned Miss International Queen 2012.
Balot burst into tears upon hearing she was the winner and was given the crown by her predecessor Panvilas Mongkol of Thailand.
Balot won $13,000 US in prize money as well as a shiny trophy and gifts.
She will now perform the role of a goodwill ambassador and use her position to call for freedom and equality for transgender people.
ABS-CBN News.com
Transgender winner undecided on sex change
ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 11/12/2012 4:19 PM | Updated as of 11/12/2012 4:19 PM
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/11/12/12/transgender-winner-undecided-sex-change (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/11/12/12/transgender-winner-undecided-sex-change)
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Grabbed from the Official Facebook Fan Page of Kevin Balot
MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino transgender Kevin Balot, who was recently crowned Miss International Queen 2012 in Pattaya, Thailand, has not yet decided on getting a sex-change operation.
Part of the prize package for winning the pageant is a free sex-change operation.
"I don't want to decide now, siguro parang one year to decide," Balot, who also won a $10,000 cash prize, told ABS-CBN News. "I need to think a million times before I follow my heart's desires."