Naaz Joshi

She was born as Aizya Naaz Joshi to a Muslim mother and Hindu Punjabi father.[7] At an early age of 7, her family sent her to a distant relative in Mumbai to avoid taunts from the society for her feminine behavior. She worked at dance bars and restaurants to earn her living. Later, she enrolled National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and completed her formal studies in fashion design.[8] She later completed her MBA in marketing from the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad.[9]

Joshi worked as a sex worker to earn money for her sex reassignment surgery.[10] In 2018, she claimed to be a victim of gender discrimination after having her booking rejected by a hotel in Gurgaon. Although a junior employee of the hotel initially contacted about the matter by the Hindustan Times stated that the booking was cancelled for "gender-based reasons", this was later denied by the general manager who stated the "allegations of discrimination of any kind were false" and that the hotel had not yet confirmed Joshi's booking because it was still waiting for approval from the regional sales office.[11]

The status of India’s transgender population improved when the NALSA was able to get transgender recognized as a third gender by the Supreme Court of India on 14 April 2014.[12] She has also won the Miss Republic International Beauty Ambassador 2017 and Miss United Nations Ambassador pageants. On winning this particular title, she told Indulge Express that winning the crown gives her more power and responsibility towards society, with which she aims to work towards bringing the transgender community into the mainstream.[13]

IIM students interacted with Miss World Diversity 2019 to promote mutual respect and inclusion of the third gender.[14]

During an interview on 72nd independence day celebration of India, she stated that love is not free in the country, she was living in with a boy and her marriage called off because she is a transwoman. Trans women in India are often subjected to hatred and trans phobia.

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Joshi first won Miss World Diversity in 2017, and retained her title the following year. She then became the first transgender to win the title for the third consecutive year in 2019. The win also made her the first transgender person in the world to win an international crown against cis-gendered women.[16]

She also won Miss Transqueen India in 2018.[17][18]

Joshi was invited to tedx at GLA university in Mathura on December 8h, to inspire people born with disabilities. The theme of the talk was silent heroes hidden truth.[19]

Naaz Joshi won Miss Universe Diversity 2020, due to pandemic of covid 19, the organisation took it digital this year. There were contestants from thirty countries who were given online tasks. Naaz chose to work on women safety and self defence. [20]

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