Midori Monet was 27 when the trans world watched her make history.
On the night of September 20, on a stage in Pattaya, Thailand, she was crowned Miss International Queen 2025. Born in Tacoma, Washington, and now living in Seattle, she became the third American to win the pageant since its creation in 2004 — and the first Black trans woman from her country to do so. She had previously been Miss International Queen USA and Miss Capitol Hill USA, but this crown was different: it is the most important in the world for trans women.
Upon receiving it, she said she felt she was living the dream of her ancestors. She said it in a country thousands of miles from home, in front of women from around the planet who had gathered under the same motto: going beyond beauty to open up possibilities. That day, Tacoma saw her name in an international headline.
