Who is Midori Monet? Everything to know about Miss International Queen 2025 winner

Midori Monet, who competed for the USA at this year's Miss International Queen, has been crowned winner.

The pageant is held every year for transgender women, and Monet is now the second Black Trans woman to take home the title, following in the footsteps of Jazell Barbie Royale’s historic win in 2019. The ceremony was held on Saturday in Pattaya, Thailand.

Adelante Magazine has reported that Midori Monet was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, though she now lives in Seattle. Her father was a music minister at church, while her mother was a fashion designer. It would be years before she came out as gay, though she ultimately realized she didn't identify as a male at all.

She has since come out as trans, and her first beauty pageant was Miss Washington USA. She also represented Miss Capitol Hill USA.

Midori Monet left on stage alone as fellow contestants celebrate without her: Read more

In her acceptance speech, Midori Monet told the audience that her win is significant to the USA, where laws against the transgender community are passed “almost daily."

“We were here before Trump and we will continue to be here after him,” she said, referring to President Donald Trump, whose administration and local governments have enacted measures restricting the rights of transgender women, including a presidential decree prohibiting them from competing in women’s sports.

America on Newspaper has reported that Midori was already a standout in the preliminary gala in Bangkok before she nabbed the winning title. Olivia Lauren of Cuba came in second, while Ha Tam Nhu of Vietnam was given third place out of the 23 contestants.

However, as seen in videos going viral online, Monet Midori's win was overshadowed by drama on-stage. As she accepted the crown from 2024’s winner, Catalina Marsano of Peru, the remaining contestants were seen cheering the runner-up on, leaving the former alone.

Nonetheless, Midori Monet later took to Instagram to congratulate her fellow contestant, Ambrose. As for Olivia Loren, her post-win interview is now being viewed as disrespectful towards Miss International USA.

During a conversation with Pawee Ventura, she iterated that this year's competition transcended beauty, and even admitted that she was subjected to bullying during the competition. She alleged that people ridiculed her for looking like a man. As for how she felt about the winner, she said that the organisation would have "a lot of work to do if that's what they choose."

However, she has since apologised for her remarks and reportedly cleared the air with the other two winners:

"As for the mention of Miss USA and Miss Vietnam, I realise it was not right to speak out publicly before talking with them directly. We have since had an open conversation and cleared things up with understanding. I respect them and all my fellow contestants deeply."

The former is now the 19th queen to have been given the crown, and she is now tasked with representing the nation on a global scale.

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