Tashi Choden was crowned Miss Bhutan 2022 on 4th June 2022 at the Bhutan Broadcasting Service, Thimphu as she will now debut Bhutan’s participation at Miss Universe 2022. The newly crowned queen was recently invited as a panelist at the Paro College of Education for a discussion on the theme ‘Rainbow Dialogues: Reckoning with Gender and Sexual Diversity’ with UN Bhutan and UNFPA Bhutan.
On 9th June, special edition to Bhutan Dialogues was conducted as Dr. Karma Phuntsho hosted the conversation with Tashi accompanied by Gender Advocate, Ms. Regita Gurung and Head of Office, UNFPA, Mr. Phuntsho Wangyel. Tashi was a significant speaker at the discussion as she talked about identifying as a Gender Fluid person.
“So, I identify as gender fluid. And the fun thing is that I came out bisexual first, that was when I was 15, and then after a while that term didn’t really sit right with me because I tilted towards the same sex more. So then I did a lot of research and that’s how I came across GENDER FLUID. And for me, I express it through my choice of fashion, and how I interact on social media and how I reach out to other people,” she shared.
She also added, “Gender Fluid is such a new term to our society, even the rainbow community right now because whenever I tell people about my sexuality, they’re like: “That’s a new word, what does that mean?”, because gender fluid has a very complex meaning to it, and then that’s why I tell people in a very easy way rather than saying and then explaining to them what gender fluidity actually is, I tell them I’m a gay woman and I’m attracted to women like in any form, I’m attracted to women in general.”
“It’s like how one day I can wake up and feel more feminine and that’s how I choose to portray myself as, I portray myself in a very feminine way, I speak more in a feminine way, dress up more in a feminine way, but then the next day I can feel more masculine, so that’s when I dress up in a very tomboy-ish way, if you’d like to say that. So, yeah its very confusing but at the same time it’s like a whole adventure of self-realization and it took me a long time to accept that, but now that I have accepted that, it’s helped me grow into a very confident women that I am today,” she further explained.
Tashi hails from Wangdue and is 23 years of age. She attended Utpal Academy in Paro, Bhutan. In 2019, she was appointed Miss Supermodel Worldwide Bhutan 2019 and represented Bhutan at Miss Supermodel Worldwide 2019 where she placed in the Top 15. She is confident, strong, passionate and can definitely prove to be a potential candidate at the Miss Universe platform.