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Anjali Lama

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Anjali Lama
अञ्जली लामा
Bornc. 1985 (age 38–39)
NationalityNepal
Known forNepal's first transgender model
Modeling information
Hair colorBlack

Anjali Lama (Nepali: अञ्जली लामा; born c. 1985) is Nepal's first transgender model and a transgender rights activist.

Early life

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Lama was born c. 1985 into a farming family in Nuwakot District and was the fifth of seven siblings.[1][2] She was gender variant as a youth, and her perceived effeminacy was mocked by family members, teachers, and schoolmates.[3] She left Nuwakot at age 18 and moved to Kathmandu, where she says she experienced "mental torture" due to incongruence with her gender identity.[4][5] She was dismissed from her job in a hotel as the staff did not accept Lama presenting as feminine.[4]

Coming out and modelling career

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When Lama moved to Kathmandu, she watched Sangharsha, a television show about transgender people, and identified with the people on the show.[4][6] At the suggestion of other trans women she had met, Lama became involved with the Blue Diamond Society, an LGBT group in Nepal.[3][7] Despite initially being outed and rejected by her family once a member of her village told them she was trans,[8] she told her family she was a trans woman in 2005.[7]

She later joined a modelling agency in the city.[8] Her early years modelling were difficult, as she experienced career discrimination due to being a trans woman.[9] In 2007, Lama competed in Miss International Queen[10] and in 2010, she made her catwalk debut.[4]

A 50-minute-long documentary film was made about Lama titled Living Inside Someone Else's Skin.[11][12]

In 2017, she became well-known as the first transgender model to feature at the Lakmé Fashion Week show in India.[13][14][15] That year, she appeared on the cover of Elle India[16] and worked with Calvin Klein in 2019, becoming the first trans model from the Indian subcontinent to be featured in an international brand campaign,[17] and was announced to appear in the all-women Hollywood film Women's Stories in 2021.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Anjali Lama". www.platform-mag.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  2. ^ Dubey, Shilpa (30 October 2019). "Anjali Lama: I couldn't relate to my birth gender". Femina. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b Shah, Manali (11 February 2017). "Anjali Lama, first transgender model at LFW, moves to Mumbai: Never been so busy". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Jamshed, Zahra; Arora, Medhavi (3 February 2017). "Transgender model makes history at Lakmé Fashion Week". CNN. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Nepal's Anjali Lama becomes first transgender model to walk Lakme Fashion Week". Hindustan Times. 3 February 2017. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  6. ^ "A transgender model will star in India's premier fashion show". The Independent. 19 January 2017. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  7. ^ a b "India's first transgender model has made her catwalk debut". The Independent. AP. 3 February 2017. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  8. ^ a b "One of the world's most homophobic countries is about to have a transgender model appear at fashion week". The Independent. 9 January 2017. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  9. ^ Borges, Andre (6 February 2017). "Everything You Need To Know About Anjali Lama, The Transgender Model Who Lit Up Lakmé Fashion Week". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Nepal's Gender Benders". MySinchew. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  11. ^ http://www.ekantipur.com/2014/09/11/capital/documentary-showcases-transgenders-struggle/394883.html Archived 15 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine "Documentary showcases transgender's struggle"
  12. ^ "'Anjali' to premiere on September 18". Nepal Republic Media. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  13. ^ "Nepal transgender model dazzles India". BBC News. 21 February 2017. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Anjali Lama–Nepal's first transgender model—makes her New York Fashion Week debut for Prabal Gurung". Vogue India. 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  15. ^ Tan, Azrin (28 June 2022). ""I would like to see equal opportunities regardless of gender identity": Anjali Lama on being a transgender model in the fashion industry". Vogue Singapore. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  16. ^ "After walking for LFW 2017, transgender model Anjali Lama looks all polished on a major magazine cover". The Indian Express. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  17. ^ Fatima, Nishat (8 March 2019). "Transgender model Anjali Lama on going international". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Nepali model Anjali Lama to feature in a Hollywood movie". The Himalayan Times. 27 January 2021. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2024.