Miss Trans Israel is a

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

for

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

people. It was first held in 2016 in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, when it was won by

Talleen Abu Hanna Talleen Abu Hanna (Arabic: تالین ابو حنا, Hebrew: תאלין אבו חנא; born 30 July 1994) is an Israeli-Arab beauty pageant winner, model, actress, and television personality. In 2016, she was crowned the first-ever Miss Trans I ...

. She represented the

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in the Miss Trans Star International beauty pageant, that was held in the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in 2016.

Miss Trans Israel 2016

Miss Trans Israel Pageant was held on May 27, 2016, at Habima National Theater in Tel Aviv, Israel. Eleven contestants from a variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds competed for the title of the first ever Miss Trans Israel 2016.

Auditions

On March 3, 2016, three rounds of auditions were held at the Theater Club in

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

for the 35 trans women who wished to compete. Out of the nineteen participants who came to the auditions, eleven finalists were selected to compete in the final beauty pageant.

Pageant

To mark the beginning of pride week in Tel aviv, organizers and activists at the LGBT center produced for the first time in history, the Miss Trans Israel pageant held at Habima National Theatre. The prize was $15,000 worth of plastic surgery procedures at the Kamol Cosmetic Hospital in

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, including airfare and hotel accommodation, and donated by Dr. Kamol and Kamol hospital team. The event received international attention, with articles and videos in online newspapers such as

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

'', ''

Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine, ''

Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Je ...

'',

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

, ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'', and Spanish '' El Mundo''. Contestants were asked to model a swimwear look, a casual dress, and a bridal gown, in addition to being asked questions about their fashion style.

Production team

* Executive Director: Israela Stephanie Le

* Producer: Shenhav Levy * Director of LGBT Center: Yuval Egart * Public Relations: Hanita Lev Ari * Show Director: Segev Gershon * Visual Media: Koby Ben Shoshan * Lighting: Noa Elran * Photographer: Eitan Tal * Artistic Review: Ilan Pele

Noya Aviv, and Sharon Hazi

* Music: Yoav Arnon * Graphic Designer: Guy Kaminer * Styling: Gili Algabi * Costumes: Julie Vino * Make Up: Miki Buganim Academ

* Hair: Davis and Udi Academy * Hosts:

Gal Uchovsky Gal Uchovsky (; born September 27, 1958) is an Israeli screenwriter, producer, journalist, activist and Israeli TV personality. Early life Uchovsky was born in Hadera. His family moved to Vienna while his father was studying there. They returne ...

and Sharon Hazi

* Choreographer: Shay Susanna

Panel of judges

Efrat Tilma Efrat Anne Tilma (; born 1947) is an Israeli transgender activist and the first trans woman to volunteer in the Israel Police. A play based on her autobiography, entitled ''Made He a Woman'', was performed at Habima Theatre, the national theatre ...

* Betty Rockawa

* Shenhav Levy * Nicol Raidma

* Vanessa Lopez Miss Star International 2015 * Ronan Ackerma

Guests of honor

Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes (; born 14 August 1958) is an Israeli socialite, investor and talk show host. Early life Judy (Judith) Mozes was born in Ramat Gan to Paula and Noah Mozes, owners of the ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' newspaper, their third child afte ...

* Gadi Bar Lav

* Jesper Vahr,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

ambassador to

Gila Goldstein Gila Goldstein (; 18December 19475February 2017) was an Israeli sex worker, actress, singer and transgender rights activist. She was one of the first activists of the Aguda, the oldest and largest LGBT organization in Israel. She is considered I ...

Contestants

In a press release issued by the organizers and producers of the pageant, contestants were described as constituting "a true Israeli mosaic. With different backgrounds, communities, and faiths, they are an example of courage and tolerance." Contestants came from all over

, they represented

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

, and

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

faiths, as well as Israeli,

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

, and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

-Israeli ethnicities. The eleven contestants were: *

* Elian Nasiel * Reem Or * Aylin Ben Zaken * Angelina Shamilov * Danielle Larnon * Maya Smadja * Almog Yehuda * Carolin Khoury * Madlen Matar * Shontal Israel

Winner

was crowned the winner of the pageant, breaking historical boundaries and becoming the first ever Miss Trans Israel. Abu Hanna is a ballet dancer, and a model, and now lives in Tel Aviv. After her victory at Miss Trans Israel, Abu Hanna went on to win second place in the Miss Star International Beauty Pageant 2016 which was held in Barcelona on September 17. She also appeared in the eighth season of the Israeli edition of Big Brother.

Celebration of the Trans Community

For organizers, activists, contestants, and the LGBT community, the pageant was a celebration of acceptance in a region fraught with conflict and violence. Israel is arguably the only country in the Middle East where Trans people are free to live and express their true identities. Director, Israela Stephanie Le

was quoted in the ''

'' saying: "We live in Israel, the only sane country in the region where people can live as gays or transgenders and no one is going to throw them off the rooftop or slaughter them.

Miss Trans Israel 2017

Elian Nesiel from

Bat Yam Bat Yam ( ) is a city on Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast, on the Central Coastal Plain just south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area and the Tel Aviv District. In , it had a population of . History British Mandate Bat Y ...

is the winner of the

''Miss Trans Israel'' 2017, and she represented the

in the Miss Trans Star International 2017

beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes them pleasure, pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, art and taste are the main subjects of aesthetics, one of the fie ...

contest CONTEST is the United Kingdom's counter-terrorism strategy, first developed by Sir David Omand and the Home Office in early 2003 as the immediate response to 9/11, and a revised version was made public in 2006. Further revisions were publish ...

, that was held in the

References

{{reflist, 35em Transgender beauty pageants Transgender events Beauty pageants in Israel Recurring events established in 2016 2016 establishments in Israel LGBTQ events in Israel Transgender topics in the Middle East Transgender topics in Israel

Miss Trans Israel 2016

Auditions

Pageant

Production team

Panel of judges

Guests of honor

Contestants

Winner

Celebration of the Trans Community

Miss Trans Israel 2017

See also

References