As part of the legacy that Hugh Hefner left behind him, there are those who do not believe he was a sexual liberator, but a manipulator. Their image may be seedy and outdated, but Playboy’s latest move will dispel any haters that think the magazine isn’t progressive.

Standing on the right side of history. pic.twitter.com/i9ySJ4yBrL

— Playboy (@Playboy) October 19, 2017

Transgender model Ines Rau has been announced as the first ever transgender Playboy cover star.

Here are some photos of the French model, hand picked by Cooper Hefner himself.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Babm7B1gsZt/?hl=en&taken-by=supa_ines

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXr_Mx5AQK9/?taken-by=supa_ines

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWKkQSigPQR/?taken-by=supa_ines

Having transgender models on the pages of the magazine is nothing new for the 64 year old magazine, but Ines will be the first playmate to grace the iconic cover.

How will this news go down with Playboy readers? We’ll have to see. At its peak, Playboy saw 7.2 million readers a month, now with only 500,000, it may be at risk of pushing away its audience. But honestly, if they hadn’t said anything, we wouldn’t have known Ines was transgender anyway.

 

Written: Michael Ward  Subbed: Charlotte Racher