Rikkie Valerie Kollé makes history as first trans woman crowned Miss Netherlands
Rikkie Valerie Kollé has become the first trans woman to be crowned Miss Netherlands in the beauty pageant's 94 year history.
The 22-year-old from Breda was awarded the title over the weekend at the AFAS Theater in Leusden. She will now go on to compete in the Miss Universe 2023 competition due to be held in El Salvador later this year.
Posting a snapshot of the celebratory moment on stage to Instagram, Kollé wrote, "I DID IT !!!!! It's unreal but I get to call myself @missnederland 2023. It was an educational and beautiful journey, my year can't be broken anymore. 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."
She also thanked the jury and everyone from the Miss Netherlands team, promising "this is only the beginning". Whilst thanking her co-finalists, family, and friends, Kollé also said to her wider supporters: "You gave me so much extra strength from the hall. And wherever you are in the world, I want to be there for you and be the example that I missed as a little me."
And it's the example that's so important.
British charity Mermaids, which supports transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse children and young people has applauded the historical moment.
"We want to congratulate Rikkie on being the first trans woman in history to win the Miss Netherlands title," a Mermaids spokesperson told Cosmopolitan UK. "We know firsthand from the young people we support, and the wider trans community, how important positive representation of trans people is amidst an increasingly transphobic climate that is attempting to roll back our hard-won rights and denigrate trans identities.
"Having a trans person occupy such a public platform is a welcome act of defiance in the face of such hostility, and we wish her all the best as she competes in Miss Universe later this year."
As do we!
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