He hopes the corporate sector will come forward with sponsorships either as a commercial opportunity or as their corporate social responsibility activity for the upliftment of a neglected community.

'There will be song and dance performances of transgenders who have made a mark in those fields.'

According to Hariharan, the challenges ahead for holding such an event are not just financial but also many other things - like people opposing the event at the venue.

He hopes to get the Tamil Nadu government's support for this event citing the government's decision to set up a welfare board for transgenders - the first state in the country to do so.

Kalki Subramaniam, a transgender who runs the Sahodhari Foundation which works for the welfare of transgenders said: 'It is a good idea to have a beauty contest, however, if it is only based on physical beauty, then I am not in favour of it.'

'There should be some intellectual component to the contest also. And if there are questions to the participants they should not be AIDS related - that would be stereotyping the community,' she added.

Subramaniam is also planning to hold a contest in November with more stress on the intellectual component.