Breaking New Ground?

There are a number of trans models that are appearing on magazine covers and the headlines declares they are breaking new ground.

Two transgender models have just landed a major fashion campaign
Business Insider
By Rachel Lubitz, Mic
November 16, 2016

From Andreja Pejic modeling for Reformation and Kenneth Cole to Hari Nef modeling for H&M and Camper x Eckhaus Latta, transgender models continue to make tremendous strides in the fashion industry.

To keep that momentum going, two transgender models, Benjamin Melzer and Loiza Lamers, have teamed up in a new campaign for a collaboration between the denim brand Diesel and the German clothing company About You.

"Diesel contacted me for a campaign around the same time Loiza and I were planning on doing a concept shoot to raise awareness to create more opportunities for transgender models in campaigns for major brands," Melzer said in an interview. "Diesel heard the idea and loved it."

Previously the pair had already made history, Melzer as the first transgender man on the cover of Men's Health in Germany and Lamers as the first transgender model to win Holland's Next Top Model.

I am old enough to remember a trans model who was not only a model for a major company but also was in a James Bond movie.

However, at the time she wasn’t out and when she was outed by a British newspaper she was fired.

Caroline (Tula) Cossey who transitioned in the eighties lead the way for all other trans models.

This Trans Supermodel Was Outed In The ‘80s, Lost Everything And Became A Pioneer
“As painful as it was to endure what I did in my life, it’s all worth it when you hear you’ve saved lives or helped people find direction in theirs.”
Huffington Post
By JamesMichael Nichols
June 19, 2016

Long before Laverne Cox, Caitlyn Jenner, or any of the trans women currently making waves in entertainment, fashion and culture, there was Caroline Cossey.

Born in England in the 1950s, Cossey came to live as her authentic self and rose to prominence in the fashion world at a time when it was extremely dangerous — and potentially career-ending — to be transgender. With roots as a showgirl and performer, Cossey went on to work as a model under the name “Tula.” Living full-time as a woman — and not openly transgender — she appeared in the James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only” and modeled for Playboy.

Following these two high-profile appearances, Cossey was outed by a tabloid as transgender and lost everything — in both her career and personal life. The years that followed the outing, in the words of Cossey, “propelled me into the realm of activism” as she engaged in a high-profile legal battle with the British government. “I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life feeling ashamed or apologizing for it and I didn’t think anyone else should either,” she says.

I remember when I first read about I was transfixed, here was a trans woman who was beautiful, intelligent, and trans. I watched her in the talk television shows of the day like Merve Griffin and I went out and bought Playboy to read an article about her.