Transformistas vs Travestis: transgender experiences inside the Miss Gay Internacional by Theatron

Abstract:

This article takes as its starting point the Miss Gay Internacional by Theatron beauty contest, organized by a night club in Bogota, Colombia. The text examines this event and finds a complex and discordant reality between the vision of the organizers, according to whom the competition functions as a platform for transformista artistic performances, and that of some LGBT activists, for whom the event is discriminatory, to the extent that its producers limit the participation of transgender women. In contrast to a global atmosphere conducive to renewal of this type of show, the competition analyzed seems to present resistance to changes related to gender binarity.

Keywords:
Colombia; Beauty Contests; LGBT studies; Gender; Performativity