‘To gain respect, you need success’: the trans tycoon from Thailand who bought up Miss Universe | Thailand

Anne Jakrajutatip, 43, has a story unlike many of the world’s media moguls. Growing up in Bangkok, the child of shop owners, she felt that she was trapped in the wrong body. At school, she faced constant bullying and stigma. She tried to carefully manage her identity, showing what she believed to be her true self in front of friends, and acting as a good son in front of her parents. She experienced sexual harassment while still a child.

It was reading a local newspaper article about Oprah Winfrey, a survivor of child abuse, that led Jakrajutatip to want a career in the media and to become a TV chatshow host. A microphone seemed like a powerful weapon.

Achieving fame or business clout was the only escape to find acceptance as a transgender person, she said. “Because you are seen as the weird person. They don’t embrace the differences,” she recalled. “In order to gain respect,…