If Qatrisha wins the Singapore pageant, she will be the first transgender woman from Asia to compete in the international Miss Universe contest.
However, since the announcement last week that a transgender woman had made the finals for the first time in the local pageant’s 70-year history, online users in the conservative city state of Singapore have been critical.
In social media comments, one user wrote: “Should have a pageant on its own, LadyBoy Universe”, while another questioned: “Is it FAIR for the finalist to be naturally born a man with the genetics and height of a MAN yet compete against all the other contestants who are naturally born a female?”