Make-up artist Solongo Batsukh braves Mongolia’s below-freezing temperatures in just a skimpy black dress and light pastel pink coat – the country’s trailblazing transgender beauty queen wants to look good in any weather. “I don’t like to look puffy,” the 25-year-old says as she drives to a beauty salon that hired her to promote its products and services via Facebook live videos. It’s with this typical bluntness, confidence, and attitude that taboo-breaking Batsukh strutted into the country’s first ever Miss Universe Mongolia competition in October. Although she fell short of representing her country at the Miss Universe contest in Thailand on December 17, her participation shed light on a group living on the edges of a deeply patriarchal country with conservative views about sexual orientation.