You may never have heard of Caroline “Tula” Cossey but she holds a pretty special place in Playboy’s illustrious history.

Cossey appeared in 1991’s September edition baring all, but has spent the best part of the last 20 years shunning publicity. She recently gave her first media interview in two decades and below are some excerpts from Huffington Post:

There’s a difference between being known as Tula the transsexual international model versus just a successful model…It wasn’t the same. I felt like a circus act.

Playboy’s readership is mostly male and heterosexual, so it allowed me to get out there and prove that people like myself can be sexy and attractive. That’s what I aimed to do at that point.

Cossey said she doesn’t know “if I’ll ever stop feeling like a second-class citizen. It’s embedded and instilled from birth. You grow up, you don’t fit in, you don’t belong, you’re bullied. That doesn’t go away in five minutes. I don’t think it ever goes away.

Perhaps the efforts of Caitlyn Jenner will leave an indelible mark on helping women such as Cossey feel more accepted into the mainstream. For that she should be applauded.

[source:huffingtonpost]