Transgender, Rikkie Valerie Kollé, Crowned Miss Universe Netherlands 2023

Miss Universe Netherlands 2023 title has been for the first time conferred upon a transgender model Rikkie Valerie Kollé on Saturday, July 8 at the AFAS Theater in Leusden.

Rikkie Valerie Kollé, a Dutch-Moluccan model lives in Breda. The 22 year old succeeded Ona Moody as the most beautiful girl in Netherlands and will now prepare to represent the Netherlands at the 72nd Miss Universe (Miss Universe 2023) in El Salvador.

Further, Nathalie Mogbelzada, 26, from Amsterdam, was named first runner-up while Habiba Mostafa and Lou Dirchs were awarded Miss Congeniality and Miss Social Media, respectively.

The new Miss Universe Netherlands made history as she became the first-ever transgender woman to win the national title. She is also only the second transgender person to have participated in the prestigious Miss Universe pageant. The trailblazer before her was Spain’s Angela Ponce, who made history in 2018.

Kollé, aspires to be a prominent voice and role model for the Queer community, and aims to dedicate her career to supporting individuals who have faced rejection from their families during their transition journey.

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Following the recent trends, Nigeria has a number of Transgenders persons. Amongst them are Ms Sahara, Dapo Adaralegbe and Candy La Mandy. Also on this list is Nigerian Born But US Based woman who transformed to a man, Rizi Xavier Timane Below is the profiles.

1. Ms Sahara: The first Nigeria transgender man, Oche Clifford who is now Miss. Sahhara, who was born a male before becoming a model and singer. She spoke of how happier she is that her dream of becoming a woman was achieved., Crying tears of Joy when she saw her transformation. She has been known to stir the hornet with offensive speeches about how she supposedly hates God who created her. The 28 year old Miss Sahara contestant was born a man, Living in Abuja for several years before moving to the UK about 7 years ago where she’s now living as a woman. She’s now a beauty queen, having participated in a few pageants. She (He) was 1st runner up at the 2011 Miss International Queen pageant.
2. Dapo Adaralegbe: Dapo Adaralegbe now known as Stephanie Adaralegbe after her transformation was also a man. After his surgery that transformed him to the female sex, he moved to Spain because of fear of rejection
3. Candy La Mandy: Though not much is known of Ms. Mandy La Candy, news and pictures of the man turned woman has been making the rounds on social media, with the notification that she is a popular Nigerian transgender based in Canada. She shares her pictures where she calls herself amazing.
4. Rizi Xavier Timane: He used to be a woman. Born in Lagos Nigeria. Now living in the US as Rizi Xavier Timane, a man. In an interview with Ebony, he reflects on his journey to living his truth, and the burden that comes with doing it in a country (US) that doesn’t value ‘Black men’. Here what he has to say; I was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and I was assigned the female gender at birth. Both of these facts amounted to one thing: I had no power, no respect, and no privilege, nor would I have much of any of these throughout my life. Add in that I came from a less than wealthy family and was, for all intents and purposes, a lesbian, and I became a truly invisible human being; when I wasn’t being ridiculed or abused, I basically did not exist.