Rikkie Valerie Kolle Becomes First Transgender Model To Be Crowned Miss Netherlands

Rikkie Valerie Kolle made history by becoming the first transgender model to be crowned Miss Netherlands.

A transgender lady has been crowned for the first time in the pageant’s history.

During a lavish ceremony in Amsterdam on Saturday, the 22-year-old Dutch-Moluccan model defeated Habiba Mostafa, Lou Dirchs, and Nathalie Mogbelzada to win the competition. This historic victory secures her place as a contender for the coveted 72nd Miss Universe title.

In an Instagram post, she expressed her joy, writing, “I DID IT !!!!! 👑❤️ I’m so proud and happy I can’t even describe it. Making my community proud and showing it can be done. And yes I’m trans and I want to share my story but I’m also Rikkie and that’s what matters to me. Did this on my own and loved every moment of it. I want to thank the jury and everyone from the Miss Netherlands team for their trust, this is only the beginning”.

“Through my commitment and strength, I hope to bring about change in society. In the end, it’s about being able to become who you are without issues, and that can happen when YOU want it to. Not only can I help you with that, but with the Miss Netherlands organization behind me I hope that my story as little Rik will become a story that we can leave in the past and not have to repeat on the generation of now. It is never too late and help is always ready. That has always been my guiding principle and I want to pass it along and spread it with my own story and experience”, she added.

The Miss Universe contest will be held in El Salvador later this year.

She is notable for being the second transgender model to compete in a beauty competition. Angela Ponce, who represented Spain in 2018, was the pageant’s first trans contestant.

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