Canadian transgender model wants to be Miss World

published by asingh on Sun, 01/19/2014 - 10:05

Amelia Maltepe, a 23-year-old Bangladeshi and a rising model in Canada, wishes to become Miss World.

She finished her schooling in Bangladesh and went to Toronto, Canada, in 2009. She is currently studying business accounting there, according to the Huffington Post UK.

On Twitter she describes herself as a transgender lingerie model.

She was originally born as a male, but spent more than $16,000 for surgeries to appear more feminine. She is yet to get gender reassignment surgery.

Amelia, who used to go by the name Adesh, told Huffington Post that her greatest desire was to become the Miss World.

Back in Bangladesh she was always bullied by people for being effeminate, she said.

Her family was shocked to see her physical transformation, but eventually they accepted the fact and loved her, she said.

She has urged all Bangladeshis to support her cherished dream.

Last year Amelia caused controversy in Toronto when her photo appeared in a local newspaper, the Toronto Sun. Some readers of the paper protested against a transgender person appearing in the “Sunshine Girl” section, which features pinup girls and swimsuit models.

The newspaper, however, stood by her.

Amelia appears to be quite popular in Canada, with her Facebook fan page garnering over 300,000 followers.

Bangladesh has never won the renowned beauty pageant, and since 2001 there have been no Miss World contestants from the country.