In the wake of Pride Month being celebrated every year in June to recognise the LGBTQI+ community, Naaz Joshi, a Delhi-based transgender female, won the Empress Earth 2021-22 title, an international title in a virtual contest. The first runner-up was Valentina from Colombia and the second runner-up was Olivia from Mexico.

The contest which was to take place in Dubai on June 1, 2021, was cancelled due to the pandemic and on the advice of the contestants was held in virtual mode. In the online contest, more than 15 countries participated in Empress Earth 2021. The countries that entered the top five were Colombia, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and India.

The contestants were given tasks along with evening gown and national costume presentation at the digital meeting. The final question asked to the top five finalists was, “Do you feel that lockdown is the solution to the pandemic?”

Naaz, India’s first transgender international beauty queen said, “No just lockdown can decrease the number of patients. It’s also 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”.

Naaz dons various hats including the Miss Universe Diversity 2020, Miss World Diversity 2017-20, Miss Republic INternational Beauty Ambassador, and Miss United Nations Ambassador.

Jury members included Likamatso Makutle from Lesotho who is the founder of Empress Earth, Rita Gangwani from India, Adriga Biswas form Bangladesh, Dr Thiagaraja from Sri Lanka, Gugu Cele from South Africa, Sir Williams from Nigeria and Prem Gada from India. The signature crown of Empress Earth was designed by Pesha Creations worth $3,000, The crown is inspired by Mother Earth and studded with Swarovski crystals, according to the press statement.

For more lifestyle news, follow us: Twitter: lifestyle_ie | Facebook: IE Lifestyle | Instagram: ie_lifestyle