Miss International Queen bet
TACLOBAN CITY– Camille Anderson may be the representative of the United States in this year’s Miss International Queen beauty tilt but she remains proud of her lineage- she is from this city.
The Miss International Queen is a beauty and brain search for transgender women and is staged in Pattaya City, Thailand since 2004.
The current title holder is a Filipina transgender, Trixie Maristela.
“The pageant will give me an opportunity to reach out to many people to help raise awareness about the transgender community,” said Anderson, 36, whose real name is Kim Cordeta-Hudec and works as an Oncology nurse in Los Angeles, California.
She specializes in critical care nursing, as well as administering chemotherapy and biotherapy to cancer patients.
“ As a nurse to cancer patients, I help them physically, emotionally and mentally, giving them hope not to give up,” Anderson explained the nature of her work at Torrance Memorial.
She finished her Nursing at the Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Medical Foundation, this city in March 2001. She is an achiever being the class president of the nursing college and also awarded Academic Excellence Class Nightingaleans.
She moved to the US on April 2001.
“I am very proud of my Filipino ancestry. It is my roots; being raised in Tacloban City influenced me a lot with my values and motivated me to reach my goals in life,” she said.
“I am blessed to have the support of my family, and friends and encouragement from many people especially my husband who pushes me and motivates me to the best of my ability,” Anderson added.
The beauty queen, who counts dancing, skiing, among others, as her hobbies, is married to Marco Anderson, a model and an athlete for three years now.
When she was growing up, she knew she always wanted to become a beauty queen and she worked for it.
She was crowned as Miss USA and Miss Los Angeles Pride of both in 2014 and last year, as the Queen Universe.
“I believe that beauty pageants does not only showcase beauty and glamour but also gives one an opportunity to become a role model for so many people who suffer low self-esteem and fear of coming-out,” Anderson said.
“Everything should be perfect. Now that I am an official candidate, I want to enjoy the pageant. I am grateful and excited for this journey,” she said.
Anderson said that winning the titles opened so many doors for her to participate in fund raising events and outreach programs that benefit the LGBT(lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community and the under privileged youth.
When Tacloban was barreled by supertyphoon ‘Yolanda’ in 2013, she came to the city, wearing her Queen Universe crown.
Not only she was able to visit her family but also initiated a food drive, gave toys to children and spent ample time with them.
Mykel Tenefrancia, a top-notch make-up artist from Tacloban will fly to Thailand as member of team USA do her face.
The pageant will officially start on October 30 and will have its coronation night on November 11 in Pattaya, Thailand. (VICKY C. ARNAIZ)
