Rikkie Valerie Kollé, who made history as the first male posing as a transgender woman to win Miss Universe Netherlands, has come forward to support Dylan Mulvaney, a fellow transgender TikTok influencer.
Reflecting on the Miss Netherlands victory, Kollé expressed gratitude toward the “haters” who have inadvertently given them a larger platform.
He described the moment of being crowned as Miss Universe Netherlands as spectacular and expressed pride in their achievement as a male acting as a transgender woman.
Kollé explained that participating in the pageant provided an opportunity to use their voice and discuss important societal changes they wished to see. He also mentioned their motivation to make the Queer community proud by taking part in the competition.
Regarding the controversy surrounding Dylan Mulvaney, Kollé described the backlash as terrible and disheartening.
He expressed empathy for Mulvaney, highlighting the negative impact of judging and undermining someone’s confidence in being true to themselves.
Kollé revealed the disturbing reality of receiving death threats and hateful messages online, acknowledging that while these messages are deeply distressing to read, he also serve to amplify their platform in ways he could never have imagined.
In reference to Dylan Mulvaney’s criticism of Bud Light for not adequately supporting him and enabling “transphobia,” Kollé shared similar sentiments.
He believed that when a company hires a transgender individual but fails to publicly stand by them, it worsens the situation, granting permission to customers to freely express transphobic and hateful views. Kollé warned that such actions can have serious and grave consequences for the LGBTQ community.
