Transgender Model Crowned Miss Netherlands, First For The Country
Rikkie Valerie Kolle’s win now qualifies her for the Miss Universe pageant that will be held in El Salvador in December.
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A young transgender model has made history after she was crowned as Netherlands’ first transgendered Miss Netherlands.
Rikkie Valerie Kolle’s, 22, win now qualifies her for the Miss Universe pageant that will be held in El Salvador in December and will see contestants from 24 countries battle it out to claim the title.
According to posts on her official Instagram, the young model can be seen filled with happiness as she receives her crown from her predecessor Ona Moody and reigning Miss Universe R’Bonney Gabriel from the USA.
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.
Rikkie Valerie Kolle via Instagram
In her post she also thanked the jury and everyone on the Miss Netherlands team for their trust, time and effort given to her.
However, Kolle is not the first trans person to compete in preliminary pageants.
In fact, back in 2018, Spain’s Angela Ponce — a Spanish model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Universe Spain 2018– was the first trans woman to compete in such pageants.
Kolle’s win has also unfortunately gained negativity online, under the hashtag #MissNetherlands on Twitter.
Many took to the social media platform to comment on her win.
Some Twitter users commented on the win, calling it unjust that a “man” won over real women at a women’s competition.
Another Twitter user chimed in that the women contestants should “just walk out” just as they should in sport competitions that allow transwomen to compete.
Political strategist Joey Mannarino on the other hand, added that while the Netherlands has a total of 8.7 million women, it is a disgrace that they had chosen a man to win the contest.
Many others also took to the app to misgender Kolle while dropping their comments on the situation.
Nevertheless, there were also many who complimented Kolle on her win, pointing out that there was nothing wrong with the jury’s decision.
Another Twitter user noted that they were glad for Kolle’s win adding that they were just happy that it was an adult woman who won it rather than having to watch a toddlers and tiaras situation.
Meanwhile, some Twitter users also took this time to remind those commenting negatively that transwomen were indeed women.
Twitter’s Change In Policy
Following Elon Musk’s take over of the app, it is also important to note that Twitter has since “silently” changed its policies regarding hateful conduct that had previously protected transgender people from online harassment.
According to CBS News, the app faced backlash in early April when users realised that certain lines that had prohibited the targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender people since 2018 had been removed from Twitter’s section on slurs and tropes, while all other descriptions of policy violations remained intact.
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