A major progressive step in a nation still plagued with homophobia, Brazil has hosted the very first transgender beauty pageant in Rio de Janeiro. Many lovely ladies competed with bright smiles and I imagine good hopes for the future as they shed a little positive light on their life choices.

"This contest is key for the visibility of us. We transgender woman suffer a lot from prejudice and discrimination, whether we are pretty or not, rich or poor.”

That's how one contestant describes Brazil's first transgender beauty pageant, staged Oct. 30 in Rio de Janeiro. The event is particularly historic in the Latin American nation, where transgender citizens have been targets of violence in recent months. As Perez Hilton pointed out, "The contestants all strutted their stuff for the judges, but the pageant was about so much more than just winning."

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