5 PHL bets among contenders in Miss Transsexual Australia pageant

Five Filipinas will represent the Philippines in the eighth iteration of the Miss Transsexual Australia 2017 beauty pageant to be held on January 28, 2017.

Part of the annual Midsumma Festival, Victoria's premier queer arts and cultural festival, Miss Transsexual Australia gives contestants the chance to compete for an all-expenses-paid gender-correction surgery in Thailand.

"Miss Transsexual Australia aims to raise community awareness and promote acceptance and positive images of transgender women," said Gayzha Davao, the pageant's founder and director. "The 2016 contestants were quite outstanding and it is exciting to see a high calibre of entries for 2017."

Filipina contestants for Miss Transsexual Australia 2017 are law student Alexis Tan, dental nurse and former dentist Lorren Cachero, outdoor junkie Serina Rivera, foodie Shanel Sonel Martinee, and Italian-Filipino Victoria Anthony.

All contestants are advocates for specific charities: Tan represents her own transgender group, "I Am SHE," which she founded to support transgender youths during their transition, while Cachero supports Melbourne-based gender diverse health service Equinox, which offers gender diverse health services.

Rivera, on the other hand, hopes to inspire others through Kidney Health Australia as she was a kidney donor to her sister and to continue supporting her family's charity program to rebuild typhoon-affected communities in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Martinee, through Transgender Victoria, wants to spread awareness of the needs of elderly transgender women in the community, while if crowned, Anthony vows to raise the profile of Twenty10, a non-profit which aims to create safe places for people of diverse genders, sexualities and sexes, their families, and communities.

The upcoming pageant's theme will be "Spectacular Beauty with a Purpose." The winners will take home $20,000 in cash and kind prizes, which include a US$15,000 voucher for optional gender surgery at Kamol Cosmetic Hospital.

Last year's beauty queen was Cebu-born Andrea Jaca-Smith, a 35-year-old showgirl from Springvale, Victoria. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News