Ines Rau is a 26-year-old French model.

She is also the first transgender Playmate to feature on the cover of Playboy in the magazine’s 64-year history.

Posing fully nude for the November/December 2017 issue, this edition of the magazine is the first to hit the stands following the death of its founder, Hugh Hefner, reports Independent.

Although the model has been shot for the magazine before, this marks her debut as “the first official transgender Playmate”, which means “she will appear in a full pictorial and the iconic centrefold”.

Rau hails from Paris and is a successful fashion model, already fronting campaigns for Balmain and appearing in Vogue Italia and the like.

Take a look at her Playboy feature:

Cooper Hefner, Hef’s youngest child of four and a top executive at the mag, said on Thursday the decision was “in keeping with its founding mission of embracing changing attitudes about sex,” reports New York Times:

Selecting Ms. Rau “very much speaks to the brand’s philosophy,” said Mr. Hefner, 26, Playboy’s chief creative officer.

“It’s the right thing to do. We’re at a moment where gender roles are evolving.”

Mr. Hefner said he selected Ms. Rau to be a Playmate two months ago because she’s “lovely” and has “a remarkable personality,” but also to resolidify the magazine’s voice.

“This is really a moment for us to take a step back and say that so much of what the brand stood for in the early years is very much still alive in culture.”

Of course, Rau was stoked:

“It was a compliment like I’ve never had,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of beautiful compliments from gentlemen before, but this one really made me feel very special, beautiful and feminine. I was speechless.”

However, as with anything that pushes people of their comfort zone, the announcement was not without resistance:

“When I open a Playboy, I expect to see women, not some guy who identifies as a woman, or some former male who has had the surgery to become female,” wrote one commenter on the magazine’s Facebook page.

“I just don’t want my kids confused,” added another.

“I know it’s by choice, but it’s also a parent’s responsibility to guide and teach their kids at an early age. But if they claim they were born like that… then, I don’t buy it!! Males have male parts and females have female parts! Sorry!”

“I’ve seen a lot of hateful comments,” Ms. Rau said. “I would have never thought about people being so transphobic. I knew we still had a lot of work to do to get to a point where people see trans women as women, but I would have never thought of that.”

On my side, I’m all for it – you go, Rau.

[source:independent&nytimes]