"Fighting For My Community": Meet Miss South Africa's First Transgender Contestant

Lehlogonolo Machaba, a fashion model, is competing for the Miss South Africa title, which opened to transgender contestants in 2019.

The first transgender contestant in South Africa's national beauty pageant, 24-year-old Lehlogonolo Machaba hopes she will inspire greater acceptance of the LGBTQI community. Machaba, a fashion model, is competing for the Miss South Africa title, which opened to transgender contestants in 2019. "Being the first is a bit overwhelming and I'm also anxious that people do know now that I'm a trans woman," Machaba said. South Africa is the only African country where same-sex marriage is legal and which enshrines LGBTQI rights in its constitution. People can change their identity in the national birth register.