BHUTAN’S FIRST MISS UNIVERSE CANDIDATE IS PROUDLY LGBTQ+
Tashi Chombal Choden is one of the few, if not the only one, public figures in Bhutan who is out, making her openness a very brave act
She may not have won the crown, but Tashi Chombal Choden has marked a couple of milestones. The 23-year-old model is Bhutan’s first candidate to Miss Universe, and she was the only openly LGBTQ+ contestant in one of world’s most well-known pageants, which concluded on 15 January.
Choden’s being public about her sexuality is something rare, if not the only one, in her country and in the Himalayan region.
Even though a predominantly Buddhist country, Bhutan, known for its isolationist tendency, has just amended its law against same-sex sexual activity only in February 2021. Bhutan Penal Code considered gay sex as “unnatural sex,” which can be penalized. The attitude still remains conservative. As Bhutan begins opening up to the world, the recognition of and push for LGBTQ+ rights are just beginning. This makes Choden’s openness a very brave act and an important step for the LGBTQ+ community.
Born in Nagaland in India to a Bhutanese mother and Tibetan father, Choden spent much her childhood in the town of Wangdue Phodrang. She lost both of her parents by the time she was 14 years old. She began modelling and moved to the capital Thimphu for better opportunities. She also began joining beauty pageants.
During LGBTQ+ Pride Month in 2021, she came out to her family and to the public, a few months after gay sex was decriminalized. The following year, she was crowned Miss Bhutan on 4 June.
Her personal journey as well as the journey to the Miss Universe have been replete with struggles, making Choden an exceptional pageant contestant, blazing the trail both for her country and her community.