There is a little of Caitlyn Jenner is this year's Miss International Queen winner Trixie Maristela. Not unlike the former Bruce Jenner, who has become a high-profile transgender advocate after her breakout Vanity Fair cover, the Filipina has also been put on the pedestal as a rising LGBT advocate after winning a series of beauty pageants.
Shortly after winning the inaugural Miss Gay Manila 2015 title, Maristela caused a buzz on the social media when she and transgender fashion designer Veejay Floresca were denied entry to a high-end night club in Metro Manila in June.
At the ID check prior to entering the club, Maristela. who was wearing a short yellow dress that night, was told that she was not dressed appropriately as the club did not allow cross-dressers.
"I was humiliated in front of my clients," Maristela tells Asia News Network.
Her Instagram and Facebook posts on the episode then went viral forcing the club to subsequently issue an apology. The unfortunate incident sparked a healthy debate on the rights of transgender people in the Philippines with other clubs compelled to reassess their entrance policies.
"It was a good thing that it happened and I had a chance to share it on social media to make people talk about it," says Maristela, 29.
Although a mainly Roman Catholic country, the Filipino society has largely tolerated the LGBT community.
Nevertheless, Maristela and her companion's brush with the nightclub bouncer highlights the fact that even fame and status do not translate to liberation and respect. The crux of the problem, she says, lies in the ambiguous legal status of transgender people.
"We still can't change our gender markers and don't have a legal status," Maristela laments.
But all is not lost yet for Maristela and her comrades - with the large and vibrant LGBT community in Manila, LGBT rights have lately become a hot issue for politicians