On Saturday, Rikkie Valerie Kollé became the first transgender woman to win the Miss Netherlands competition—but her victory is being overshadowed by online backlash.
After officially being crowned Miss Nederlands, Kollé has now qualified for the international contest Miss Universe, where she will be the second transgender woman ever to compete.
The 22-year-old shared her delight with her followers on social media hours after she received her crown, but people disagreeing with her participation flooded the comment section on her Instagram post.
The reaction reflects a global cultural debate about LGBTQ+ acceptance in public life, at a time when transgender inclusion is proving to be a deeply polarizing issue. In the U.S., the political battle largely pits progressives against conservatives, although polling shows that transgender rights have less support among Americans than broader LGBTQ+ rights such as gay marriage.
After speaking about making her community proud, including a trans flag emoji, Kollé wrote, "yes I'm trans and I want to share my story but I'm also Rikkie and that's what matters to me. Did this on my own and loved every moment of it."
The comments that received the highest number of likes were from people criticizing Kollé's victory.
"yes you did it, you just steal a victory from a real woman," wrote @fenda_rosa.
"Comments are passing the vibe check. We've had enough of this bulls***. You stole this title from REAL women. You have absolutely nothing to be proud of," @sensiblyshy wrote.
An account named @stan_entrepreneur said, "This is simply evil..."
"A man just stole the first place of a woman and gets applause for it. Full circle, we just killed 200 years of work of women who fought for equality," wrote @dancecareers.world.
The comments continued as the people criticizing Kollé online seemed to outweigh those who congratulated her.
Advocacy group Independent Women's Voice opposed the victory in a statement posted to its social media channels.
"This is nothing to celebrate," it wrote. "This is a slap in the face to every single woman who competed against this biological male in a competition designed SPECIFICALLY for women."
The American-based organization also has an ongoing campaign to keep transgender athletes out of female sports.
This is nothing to celebrate.🚨This is a slap in the face to every single woman who competed against this biological male in a competition designed SPECIFICALLY for women. https://t.co/jtEBOnjfOK
— Independent Women's Voice (@IWV) July 10, 2023
Kollé is from Breda, a city in the south of the Netherlands. She said in her Instagram post that she wants to be the example for transgender young people that she did not have as a child.
"I did it. It's unreal but I get to call myself @missnederland 2023. It was an educational and beautiful journey, my year can't be broken anymore. I'm so proud and happy I can't even describe it," she wrote.
Criticism of Kollé's victory wasn't confined to the comment section of her Instagram post, as Twitter users also weighed in with their reactions, many of them slamming the competition.
"When a biological male wins contests and prizes intended for females, they call it human rights, and those who oppose them are labeled TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminist.)," wrote Twitter user George A. Hamalian.
Many social media users referred to Kollé as "a man" and popular tweeter Wendy Oldershaw, who claims to "oppose wokeness" in her bio, suggested that Miss Universe contests should be boycotted.
"I absolutely despair—why do the REAL females agree to take part & then stand there clapping like trained seals?! But then again seen as a transgender he/she owns the competition what can you expect!! Boycott it until common sense returns," she wrote.
Kollé's victory means she'll be the second transgender Miss Universe contestant after Angela Ponce from Spain in 2018.
Miss Universe 2023 will be held in El Salvador in December.
Update 07/10/2023, 10:08 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include reaction from Twitter and the statement from Independent Women's Voice.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jamie Burton is a Newsweek Senior TV and Film Reporter (Interviews) based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
