A TRANSGENDER woman from the Borders is raising money for LGBT charities by completing a 30 mile walk – in four inch high heels.

Jai Dara Latto lives in Walkerburn but was born in Bangkok to an Indian/Thai mother and Scottish father.

And on April 30, the 22-year-old will be walking from her hometown of Walkerburn to Edinburgh Castle to raise money for three LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) charities.

Jai's cross-country catwalk - 31.94 miles - will take her over ten hours to complete, a feat many would find difficult in trainers let alone stilettos.

She will also be having three costume changes along the way, with a different Victoria Secret-style outfit for every 10 miles of the trek.

"The distance is to show the time and length that many trans people have to go through to become their true identity," she explained. "This may be with acceptance from society or the support they get with health care.

"The high heels are to show the difficulties there are while going through this process, and also the pain that many trans women get when they try and fit into a female stereotype.

"The Victoria secret style outfit is to show that trans people should be proud of their bodies no matter what stage of the transition that they are on. We are all beautiful and should be seen as that.

"To raise my goal of £20,000 would be a dream. but anything no matter how large or small donated to these causes would be amazing."

The former Peebles High School pupil was crowned Miss Transgender Scotland and Miss Transgender UK last year, and is passionate about raising awareness of LGBT issues and stamping out stereotypes.

She said: "People often look at us as freak shows, drag queens or view transgender as being a fetish. I want to show we are normal people."

She is an active supporter of many LGBT groups including the TIE campaign (Time for inclusive education), and also volunteered for transgender alliance at Glasgow pride.

She has been doing work with the LGBT Borders Equality group for some time, having donated a cheque to the organisation for £200 in September. But for her next fundraising venture, has chosen to spread the support further afield and will be raising money for two Indian charities, and one Thai organisation, who support LGBT issues.

She hopes that her three chosen charities; The Sahodari foundation in India, Humsafar trust (HST), and the Thai Transgender Alliance, will benefit from the money she donates.

"I want to make it easier for poor trans people in rural areas of these countries to have the same benefits and support that I have over here in Scotland.

"I would also like to be able to give financial aid to trans women and men nominated from the Thai and India charities, to help them with becoming their true self.

"This could be for example new makeup, doing up their home to make them feel more comfortable, or even supporting them with hormone replacement treatment. Basically any way I can help make their life more comfortable and happy."

"The reason trans people can be negatively stereotyped or discriminated against, is because other people are confused about what transgender means. A transgender person is someone who doesn’t identify with the gender they were given at birth. Their physical body doesn’t match their inner self.

"We need to work to eradicate homophobia, biphobia and transphobia by making the lives and contributions of the LGBT people visible. We need to celebrate diversity in all forms."