On Saturday, Rikkie Valerie Kollé, a 22-year-old man, was crowned Miss Netherlands, and will go on to compete in the Miss Universe pageant. In an Instagram post, he wrote:
“Yes I’m trans and I want to share my story but I’m also Rikkie and that’s what matters to me. I did this on my own strength and enjoyed every moment.
Wherever you are in the world, I want to be there for you and be the example that I missed as a little me.”
According to Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf, the Miss Netherlands 2023 jury said:
“This finalist has radiated throughout the show and has also made the greatest progress in the process… She has a strong story with a clear mission. The jury is convinced that the organization will enjoy working with this young woman.”
Kollé went on puberty blockers at 12, began taking cross-sex hormones at 16, and had a sex change surgery in January.
Miss Universe (as well as Miss USA and Miss Teen USA) is now owned by a man named Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip (also known as Khun Anne or Anne Jakrajutatip), the “third richest transgender person in the world,” who bought the pageant for 20 million dollars in 2020. He was hailed as “the first woman to own global beauty pageant Miss Universe Organization in its 71-year history.” He recently told Them:
“I would love to see Miss Universe become one of the largest online magazines for women and LGBTQ [people] in terms of how to live the best life, how to dress, how to walk, talk, cook, exercise, travel, money, love, how to look after your children.
We are sometimes clueless on how to live life and we want to live the best life so we have to be the girlfriend for all women around the world.”
In 2018, Jakrajutatip founded Life Inspired for Transsexuals Foundation (LIFT), a non-profit that has campaigned for sex self-ID laws in Thailand. He received the Asia Media Woman of the Year award at the Content Asia Summit in Singapore in 2019 and was named as one of the “Women of the year 2022” by The Bangkok Post. In 2020, Them reports that Jakrajutatip became “a mother, having saved her sperm and found an egg donor.” In fact, the 44-year-old gay man spent $800,000 to purchase two babies via surrogates in Greece.
“We’re going to transform the world by having everyone look at us,” he told Them.
Miss Universe will take place in El Salvador later this year.