Bangladesh beauty queen brings ‘dawn of hope’ for trans women
For 24-year-old Sokal, her triumph in one of the South Asian nation's most prestigious beauty contests was not only a personal victory but one that sent a message of hope.
In this photograph taken on November 16, 2023, transgender woman Yasin Ahmed Sokal, the second runner-up in Miss Evergreen Bangladesh 2023, poses with her sash at her university in Dhaka. – Bangladeshi trans woman Yasin Ahmed Sokal always wanted the freedom to dress like her sisters, but never in her wildest dreams did she imagine being showered with applause at a beauty pageant in her conservative homeland. (Photo by Munir uz ZAMAN / AFP)