Brazilian model Valentina Sampaio has continued to make history in the fashion industry.
The 23-year-old announced she will be featured as a 2020 rookie in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue - making her the first openly transgender model to appear in the magazine.
Sampaio shared the news on her Instagram alongside a photo from the shoot and an excerpt from the personal essay that she shared with Sports Illustrated.
“I am excited and honored to be part of the iconic Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue,” Sampaio began, praising the magazine for the “diverse” and “multitalented” women its swimsuit issue featured.
“I was born trans in a remote, humble fishing village in northern Brazil,” she continued. “Brazil is a beautiful country, but it also hosts the highest number of violent crimes and murders against the trans community in the world - three times that of the U.S.”
According to the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, from the months of January to April of 2020, 64 transgender people were murdered in Brazil.
“Being trans usually means facing closed doors to peoples’ hearts and minds. We face snickers, insults, fearful reactions and physical violations just for existing,” Sampaio wrote of her experience.
“Our options for growing up in a loving and accepting family, having a fruitful experience at school or finding dignified work are unimaginably limited and challenging.”
Sampaio began her modeling career while attending fashion college in Brazil, and first garnered international media attention when she was the March 2017 cover star of Vogue Paris.
She became the first transgender model to appear on the magazine’s cover and made history once again when she was announced as the first openly transgender model to be hired by Victoria’s Secret in 2019.
