Valentijn de Hingh
- Birth Name: d, born on May 5, 1990
- Transitioned: Started hormone replacement therapy at the age of 16, and underwent gender reassignment surgery at 19.
- Known for:
- Modeling for fashion houses such as Comme des Garçons and Maison Martin Margiela
- Staring in the Dutch television program Valentijn from the age of 8 until the age of 17
Valentijn is the first transgender person to be represented by IMG Models, an international modeling agency. She received the Elle Personal Style Award in 2012. She is a model, a columnist, and a DJ, in addition to being a model. The Valentijn series was actually a documentary series that followed her through her transition process.
About her transition, she told i-D, “When I was five years old, teachers started commenting more and more on how my behavior was not like other boys, and when [my parents] read an article about transgender children in a magazine, and everything sort of fell into place for them. They took me to a child psychologist when I was five and that’s where it all began. […] It still took me a long time to fully transition — I took everything step-by-step. For instance: at first, I wasn’t allowed to wear dresses to school or grow out my hair. But then, when we would go on vacation, I would go like a girl, to try out how that felt. Later, I grew out my hair and started wearing more girly clothes. The last step for me was changing my pronouns from male to female. I did that when I was about 14. After that, I started hormone replacement therapy at 16, and underwent gender reassignment surgery at 19.”
Valentijn De Hingh
Hari Nef
- Birth Name: Hari Nef, born on October 21, 1992
- Transitioned: Began his transition during his studies at Columbia University, between 2011 and 2015
- Known for:
- Staring in Amazon original series Transparent as Gittel
- Staring in the movie Assassination Nation as Bex Warren
- Modeling for Hood By Air and Eckhaus Latta
Hari is the first openly transgender woman to be signed by IMG Models, an international modeling agency. She was also the first openly transgender woman to grace an influential British commercial magazine, this time Elle.
About her transition during her degree in theater, she said, “That was one of the most powerful experiences. Finding my new voice and my new body and a new set of roles to play, which felt so much more authentic. I always joke that I’m a better actress than I am a male actor.”
Hari Nef
