American transgender woman Lo Colby has been crowned Miss International Queen 2026, giving the United States its second consecutive victory at one of the world’s largest international pageants specifically for transgender women.
Colby took the crown Saturday, September 19, at Tiffany’s Show Pattaya Theatre in Pattaya, Thailand, after competing against representatives from 26 other countries. Thailand’s Theerachaya Pimkitidaj finished as first runner-up, while Japan’s Saki Iwai was named second runner-up.
The victory also made a little pageant history.
Colby succeeds American Midori Monét, who won Miss International Queen in 2025, marking the first time the same country has captured the title in consecutive years. Colby also won the competition’s Best in Talent award.
A Crown With a Personal Connection
For Colby, competing in Thailand carried significance well beyond bringing home another crown.
The Thai-American transgender woman was born and raised in Hawaii and now lives in the Los Angeles area. Her mother immigrated to the United States from Thailand and, according to Pattaya Mail, was unable to return for more than 30 years because of financial, cultural, and language barriers. The pageant marked Colby’s first visit to her mother’s homeland.
Colby has built a career spanning drag performance, content creation, business, beauty and LGBTQ+ advocacy. She has also focused attention on economic opportunities for LGBTQ+ people, including employment and pay equity.
That advocacy fits neatly with the direction Miss International Queen has increasingly tried to take.
This year marked the competition’s 20th anniversary and carried the theme “The Evolving Legacy: Empower Every Voice.” Organizers also introduced the World Equality Forum, bringing representatives from the participating countries together for discussions surrounding equality, social issues, and corporate responsibility.
Twenty Years of Trans Women Taking the Stage
Founded in 2004 by Tiffany’s Show Pattaya, Miss International Queen has grown into an international showcase for transgender women from around the world.
Twenty-seven contestants participated this year, with finalists representing countries across Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Central America.
At a time when transgender people are frequently discussed as political abstractions rather than actual human beings, there is something refreshingly straightforward about watching 27 trans women walk onto an international stage and tell their own stories.
They are entrepreneurs, performers, professionals, advocates, and women representing wildly different cultures and experiences.
And Saturday night, one of those women was handed a crown.
For Colby, it happened in the country her mother once called home, thousands of miles from the Hawaii community where she grew up.
That makes the newest Miss International Queen not simply an American winner but a Thai-American trans woman whose trip to compete for an international crown also became a journey back toward part of her own history.
