New Delhi: A transgender, Rikkie Valerie Kolle, has been crowned Miss Netherlands 2023, a first for the country. The pageant took place over the weekend. Second in line is Nathalie Mogbelzada from Amsterdam.
Rikki is a 22-year-old Dutch-Moluccan model and actress from Breda. Rikkie will now go on to represent the Netherlands in the upcoming 72nd Miss Universe 2023 pageant. An LGBTQ representative, Rikkie aspires to be a voice and role model for the queer community, and urged them to follow their dreams.
Rikkie is only the second transgender contestant ever to participate in the beauty pageant, and the first to win. The first transgender model to participate in this beauty pageant was Angela Ponce from Spain, who made history in 2018.
In an interview, Rikkie spoke of dedicating her career to uplifting the queer community, speaking of their struggles and their challenges, and urging them to follow their passion. Rikkie spoke about the challenges that the queer community faces in terms of social acceptance, job opportunities, financial independence, and more. She spoke about dreaming of a world where the queer are not considered ‘the other’ and face no rejection whatsoever, according to a report in Wion.
