For Playboy’s November 2017 issue, model Ines Rau will make her second appearance in the magazine, but this time she will grace the centerfold as its Playmate, the first transgender woman to ever hold that title.
Rau first appeared in Playboy in May 2014, but she’s also a familiar face for her work for Balmain, Vogue Italia, and Hood by Air.
Rau shares a lot about her gender identity in her interview, saying that her first photoshoot for Playboy was her way of celebrating coming out.
Rau says she hasn’t always felt comfortable discussing being transgender:
“I lived a long time without saying I was transgender,” she says. “I dated a lot and almost forgot. I was scared of never finding a boyfriend and being seen as weird. Then I was like, You know, you should just be who you are. It’s a salvation to speak the truth about yourself, whether it’s your gender, sexuality, whatever. The people who reject you aren’t worth it. It’s not about being loved by others; it’s about loving yourself.”
Rau is not the first transgender woman to grace the pages of Playboy; they recently highlighted a cover from 1991, featuring Caroline “Tula” Cossey, who was also known for making a brief appearance in a James Bond Film:
The magazine is moving forward while grappling with the loss of Hugh Hefner, who was in many ways the real brand behind the publication. He is featured on a collector’s edition for November/December, the first time a man has been solo on Playboy cover: