Who Is Ines Rau? Playboy Introduces First Transgender Playmate

Playboy has found its first transgender playmate.

A number of people wondered what will happen to Playboy following Hugh Hefner's death. The magazine has been closely linked to women and sex and it doesn't seem to change anytime soon. On Wednesday, Playboy introduced its first transgender playmate, Ines Rau.

The magazine shared a snap of Rau on its official Instagram page. "Meet your November 2017 Playmate, @supa_ines.," the caption read. "Nudity shouldn't be taboo. Nudity means a lot to me, since I went through a transition to get where I want to be. Nudity is a celebration of the human being without all the excess. It's not about sexuality but the beauty of the human body, whether male or female."

Who is Rau? According to E! News, she is a 26-year-old French model of North African descent. She is based in New York and has close to 240,000 followers on Instagram. The publication added that this is not the first time that Playboy has transgender individuals pose for its magazine, but Rau is the first to be dubbed as "playmate."

Rau first posed for Playboy in 2014 shortly after her coming out. She appeared in the magazine's nude feature called "Evolution," which is a survey of "humanity's halting shift toward acceptance of gender identities beyond the male-female binary."

"It's how I celebrated my coming out, actually," Rau told Playboy about her first appearance on the magazine. "I took that chance, and then I signed with an agency."

"I lived a long time without saying I was transgender," Rau confessed. "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."

Playboy's introduction of its first transgender playmate is in time for Spirit Day when millions wear purple and stand against bullying of the LGBTQ youth. Rau, herself, admitted that she is also an LGBTQ advocate.

"I'm an advocate for anyone who is scared to be who they really are because they fear being judged or rejected," Rau said.

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