Tashi Choden

Tashi Choden Chombal (Dzongkha: བཀྲ་ཤིས་ཆོས་སྡེ།; also: Tashi Chombal Dorji ; born 29 March 1998) is a Bhutanese model and beauty pageant titleholder. In 2022, she won the title of Miss Bhutan, representing her country at the Miss Universe pageant. She is one of the first openly homosexual people in her home country, Bhutan.

Early life

Tashi Choden's mother, Kinley Wangmo, ran a business in Wangdue Phodrang, and her father, Chombal, was a businessman from the Kham region of Tibet . Her parents met in Thimphu, and immediately after their daughter was born, the family moved to the Indian state of Nagaland. Since her father was often absent due to constant business trips, she and her mother moved back to Wangdue Phodrang three years later. Her father died a year later when Tashi Choden was four years old. Her mother remarried. When Tashi Choden was 14 years old, her mother also died. She grew up in the care of her aunt and grandmother, stepfather Dorji and two younger stepsiblings. The variants of her official name, Tashi Choden, are reminiscent of her father and stepfather.

Tashi Choden attended elementary and middle schools in Wangdue Phodrang and neighboring Paro District (most recently Utpal Academy there). Contrary to social convention, she decided to postpone further education at a university in favor of other projects and her modeling career. She began this at the age of 15 through personal contacts. As a result, she took part in various national and eventually international competitions and also worked as an actress. To advance her career, she moved to the capital, Thimphu. On June 4, 2022, she was crowned Miss Bhutan there. This was only the third edition of the competition in Bhutan, previously held in 2008 and 2010.