It was March 1965, and “Playboy” magazine went where no other skin magazine had gone before by selecting Jennifer Jackson as its first black centerfold.
In 1974, the publication made soft porn history a second time by naming Ester Cordet, a native of Panama, as its first Hispanic-American playmate.
Now the empire that Hugh Hefner built has done it again. This time, however, readers had better had better not refer to French model Ines Rau “Miss November” since Rau is “Playboy” first transgender centerfold.
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Rau has actually graced the pages of the men’s magazine before, in the May 2014 issue, even though she didn’t receive top billing back then.
“It’s how I celebrated my coming out, actually,” she now tells “Playboy,” looking back and lamenting:
I lived a long time without saying I was transgender. I dated a lot and almost forgot. I was scared of never finding a boyfriend and being seen as weird. Then I was like, You know, you should just be who you are. It’s a salvation to speak the truth about yourself, whether it’s your gender, sexuality, whatever. The people who reject you aren’t worth it. It’s not about being loved by others; it’s about loving yourself.
“She” further philosophizes that “being a woman doesn’t mean being extremely feminine all the time. Being a woman is just being a woman.”
So profound!