Why we should celebrate the crowning of a trans ‘Miss Netherlands’

On Sunday, Rikkie Valeria Kolle, a trans woman, was crowned Miss Netherlands 2023. She’s the first trans participant to win in the contest’s 94-year-old history – if that isn’t a refreshing landmark, I’m not sure what is.

I am non-binary, and when pockets of progress emerge, it’s all the more powerful because of what it represents: hope.

You don’t have to be trans to recognise the dominant negative narrative that trans people are subjected to across the globe, particularly on social media. You don’t even have to follow the conversation to know that this kind of award will cause controversy, particularly when the title is “Miss” (and not Mx).

Does giving a trans woman a crown do wonders for equality? Not really. It doesn’t speak of balance, not by a long shot. It probably won’t help slash the numbers of those experiencing hate crimes. Hate crimes targeting transgender people rocketed by 56 per cent in a single year, from 2021-22, as the number of overall offences hit a record high in England and Wales, with the Home Office linking the rise to “discussions on social media”. One positive step doesn’t wipe out all the negatives.

But let me tell you what I think this award does do: it increases the visibility of trans people. It champions their successes. It places a small amount of hope on the scale that is so heavily weighed down on the other side. And in that way, it’s massive.

To those of us who live outside of the gender conforming narrative, the future of our community can feel dishearteningly bleak. And that’s because across the lives of the trans and non-binary community there is one constant element: that of struggle. It’s rare you see successes discussed, let alone celebrated.

So, yes, seeing a 22-year-old trans woman win such a prestigious event (as far as beauty pageants go) is incredible. Kolle’s win at Miss Netherlands 2023 means that she will now enter the Miss Universe contest, becoming the second ever trans woman to enter since Angela Ponce in 2018.

It’s not that trans women haven’t been able to compete (they have, since 2012) but they most commonly wouldn’t “make the cut”. Pageants like this have long been dominated by cis-gendered women; perhaps as a result of the misapprehension that trans women aren’t – or can’t possibly be – beautiful. Well, now there is an official award saying otherwise.

I can’t say whether Kolle’s win will challenge or change that sentiment more widely. As much as I’d like this to be the moment that invokes real change as far as representation goes, those of us within the gender non-conforming community know all too well how fleeting these victories can be.

Growing up in the 1990s, I barely saw queer characters in TV shows, let alone a trans or non-binary person. If a trans character was profiled, it was always as the butt of a joke, someone to be mocked and derided. Or, chillingly, as the victim of a brutal murder.

And while that’s partially changed, 2023 is far from the utopia we’d hoped it would be for LGBT+ rights and representation. Just look at the abuse suffered by trans actor Elliot Page.

That’s something that those who oppose this win may not understand, mainly because they don’t care to. Because they’ve never had to fight for their own right to exist. I would love to see people actually talk to trans or non-binary people; to go out of their way to find out what life is like for us. I would love people to try to understand the world beyond their own experience. I hope that’s not too much to wish for.

Sadly, there’s no way to speak of this moment without acknowledging that it’s surprising news. Statistically speaking, a trans person winning any kind of event is rare, mainly due to the obstacles placed before them. There is much debate, currently, around the inclusion of trans women in women’s sports.

We might also want to talk about the reductive nature of pageants, and how they celebrate heteronormative, Western beauty ideals. In my opinion, they idealise just one notion of femininity, born from patriarchal ideologies that don’t belong in the world we live in today.

Still, while I’m not an advocate of what I consider rather outdated contests, I don’t want to take away from Kolle’s moment – or the power in it.

What we’re really celebrating is acceptance. And that’s much more valuable than any crown.