Anjali Lama is set to become the first transgender model to walk at the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai this week.
Lama was born to a family of farmers in rural Nepal and has described how difficult it was growing up as a transgender person.
“In South Asian countries people still aren’t that accepting, they treat it like an illness. The public looks at you differently and treats you in a different manner,” Lama tells AFP.
Lama says she became aware of her real identity when she came to Kathmandu for college but that her family had trouble accepting her when she first came out.
“My mother and sisters were the only ones who supported me throughout.”
Lama says it would be a “dream come true” to follow walk in fashion shows in Milan, Paris and New York, and hopes that her appearance in Mumbai will inspire the transgender community.
