Singapore crowns first transsexual beauty

Link: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040927/80/f3dgp.html



SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore has crowned its first transsexual beauty queen at the weekend -- an about-face for a country renowned for its strict social controls.


More than 1,300 people turned out for "Miss Tiffany, Singapore", a beauty contest open to both transsexuals and transvestites modelled after a famous Thai beauty pageant.


Thirteen poised and elaborately dressed finalists competed for the title, pageant organiser S. Moganaruban told Reuters on Monday.


"We are very happy with the turnout and the pageants all performed very well and were very professional in the way they conducted themselves," he said.


"Some of them even brought their families. This is truly a ground-breaking event to show that Singapore is changing," said Moganaruban, chairman of the non-profit charity organisation, Singapore Amalgamated Services Co-operative Society.


Jesse Rogers, a 28-year-old student standing 5 ft 11 in tall, was the winner of the Miss Tiffany crown. Rogers walked away with 1,600 pounds and will represent Singapore in the Miss Tiffany's Universe contest in Bangkok.


The charity contest raised over 39,000 pounds.


Unlike Thailand, transvestites in Singapore remain on the fringe of society.


In the 1970s and early 1980s, Bugis Street, located near Singapore's central business district of Singapore, was famous as a red-light district for transvestites and transsexuals.


However, with redevelopment of the area into a shopping centre, their activities have since shifted to a quiet leafy suburb at the eastern end of Singapore called Changi Village, not far from the famous airport.


Moganaruban said the event signals the conservative government's growing tolerance.


"Prime Minister Lee has said that we need to liberalise and I think this event shows that we are opening up and becoming more open," he said.


Straight-laced Singapore has loosened some of its social controls in recent years, partially relaxing a ban on chewing gum in January, allowing some bars to stay open for 24 hours and ending the broadcast ban on the U.S. television show "Sex and the City".


Last month, Singapore hosted Asia's largest gay party despite having tough laws that criminalise homosexual acts. The three-day gay festival saw a turnout of over 10,000 people gyrating to the music of international DJs.