VILLUPURAM: The much-anticipated transgender beauty pageant Miss Koovagam turned into a damp squib owing to heavy downpour in Villupuram on Monday evening. The organisers have said the event would be held at an indoor venue here on Tuesday.
The event was inaugurated by sports minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, higher education minister K Ponmudy, minorities welfare minister Gingee K S Masthan, tourism minister M Mathiventhan and Kallakurichi MP Goutham Sigamani amidst slight drizzle. Shortly after the ministers left, about 15 minutes before the finale of the pageant, heavy rain pounded the venue.
Within moments, the audience and the public emptied the ground, with only the participants and organizers left at the venue. “A loss of over Rs 15 lakh is incurred by the organizers and the participants. The latter had to spend thousands of rupees to get the make-up done. We feel disheartened,” said a 35-years old transgender woman at the event.
“Even if rain stops the event, the demand by transgender people for horizontal reservation will be the core point of our getting together in 2023, because we are planning for a collective to voice out our demands,” activist Grace Banu told TNIE.