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Joyland star Alina Khan has been crowned Miss Trans Pakistan 2023, calling it “one of the best moments” of her life.

The actor spoke to Images about her experience at the pageant and her future plans. “The feeling of being crowned in front of my trans community is a very great feeling because it gives us a voice through this platform to represent ourselves. I feel very happy and accomplished.”

Khan posted a picture of herself with her sash and the tiara on her Instagram, captioning it, “A wonderful night to remember, May 31, 2023!! It was my crowning ceremony yesterday, and it was one of the best moments of my life. I got the beautiful title of Miss Trans Pakistan 2023!”

The actor spoke about the experience, saying, “I had to make myself ready for photo shoots and prep myself for the questions that I’ll be asked on the stage. There were other contestants with me from different categories, and I was representing the trans community. It was an honour for me to become an ambassador of my community through the title of Miss Trans Pakistan. I feel very humbled.”

Miss Trans Pakistan is organised by Sonia Ahmed and was first held in 2021, when Shryaa Roy was crowned. It is the first pageant dedicated to trans women in the country and gives an opportunity to Pakistani transgender women to go abroad and represent the country in other international pageants.

Khan said that the pageant functions like international pageants in some ways. “Once you apply on the website, the organisation asks for a professional [photo]shoot. After the shoot, there is an interview and then they let you know if you are selected. And then the crowning ceremony happens in Lahore.”

This year’s ceremony was held on Wednesday, in which other titles, such as Miss Pakistan, Mrs Pakistan, and Miss Pakistan Overseas were also chosen. Khan was crowned by the former Miss Pakistan, Areej Chaudhary.

Talking about her future plans, Khan revealed, “I have to represent Pakistan in international pageants, so I’m looking forward to doing that.” She rose to fame with her leading role in the award-winning movie Joyland.