Queen-size glam goals Makeup artist is taking her fanciest gowns to Thailand to represent Canada in world’s largest transgender beauty pageant
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/05/2023 (842 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Glitz and glam comes naturally to Adrian Reyes.
“I’ve always been into pageantry,” she says. “I think that’s like the (LGBTTQ+) community’s version of watching sports.”
Next month, the 28-year-old Winnipeg makeup artist is packing up her most glamorous gowns and heading to Thailand to compete in Miss International Queen, the world’s largest beauty pageant for transgender women.
It’s a stage Reyes has been preparing for since she was a teenager.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Adrian Reyes at the new home of the Rainbow Resource Centre on Broadway.
Miss International Queen was founded in 2004 with a mission to celebrate the global trans community and promote LGBTTQ+ equality around the world.
Growing up in the Philippines, Reyes first heard about the pageant when a Filipina contestant took home the crown. Becoming a transgender beauty queen suddenly seemed like an attainable goal.
“When I saw her win, I just wanted to be like her — I wanted to be out there on that international stage, showing my talent and my beauty and my intelligence,” she says. “It really created a big impact on me because that’s the first person that I looked up to growing up who was a transgender woman I could resonate with.”
She started competing in regional pageants in the Philippines and dabbled in local contests after moving to Canada 12 years ago. Winning her first crown in Calgary last year pushed her to finally pursue her Miss International Queen dreams.
Earlier this year, Reyes was selected by a national committee to represent Canada at the 2023 pageant. She’s received an outpouring of support since the announcement, including from other trans women who have been inspired by her story — it’s been a full-circle moment.
“It feels really good to know that someone who is on the same path as me is being inspired to… live their true selves,” she says. “I’m not just doing it for myself anymore; I’m doing it for the community.”
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Representing Canada at the Miss International Queen competition in the Philippines is a stage Adrian Reyes has been preparing for since she was a teenager.
Reyes is a passionate advocate for trans visibility and LGBTTQ+ rights. Locally, she’s held fundraising events for queer non-profit organizations, hosted makeup tutorials for trans women and has become involved in the community at Winnipeg’s Rainbow Resource Centre. She’s looking forward to bringing that advocacy to a global stage.
“With what’s happening in the world right now — the threats to the trans community and the drag community, which I’m also a part of — I think it’s really important to be visible,” Reyes says. “I want to be seen, I want to be heard and I just want to show everyone that… we are not going anywhere, we are here to live our true, authentic selves.”
The preparations for Thailand have been intense. Reyes has been busy rehearsing dance steps for the talent show, prepping for the onstage interview and practicsing her model walk for the swimsuit, evening wear and national costume portions of the Miss International Queen competition.
“I want to be seen, I want to be heard and I just want to show everyone that… we are not going anywhere, we are here to live our true, authentic selves.”–Adrian Reyes
She’s enlisted Winnipeg fashion designers to create custom outfits for the trip — think Canadian-inspired denim and snow apparel — and has received donations from local queer businesses to help cover travel costs.
“I’m representing Winnipeg and Canada,” she says. “It feels good to be bringing them along with me on this journey.”
Follow Reyes on Instagram (@thequeenadrian) for behind-the-scenes updates on the road to Miss International Queen, which kicks off June 24.
eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com
Twitter: @evawasney
New location, expanded mission
Winnipeg’s Rainbow Resource Centre has a new home.
The organization dedicated to creating inclusive LGBTTQ+ spaces recently moved from its Scott Street office to the stately brick manor at 545 Broadway — the longtime home of Klinic Community Health. The relocation is the first step in a plan to create a full-service queer campus and community hub in the heart of the city.
Rainbow’s new facility will allow for a wider breadth of community programming, peer support groups, counselling, workshops and education services.
Construction is currently underway onsite to create Canada’s first affordable housing unit for older LGBTTQ+ adults, which will be connected to the existing building. The 21-unit apartment complex will be available to those 50 years and older.
Rainbow Resource Centre also celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The non-profit organization was founded in 1973 as an information hub and peer-counselling service for queer students at the University of Manitoba, and later expanded to support gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and two-spirit communities across the province.
The centre is hosting a number of anniversary events during this year’s pride season, beginning with a youth dance at the West End Cultural Centre on Saturday. Visit rainbowresourcecentre.org/rainbow50 for more information.
Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva.
Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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