At EuroPride in Amsterdam this weekend, 26-year-old transgender model Valentijn de Hingh modeled a dress made from the flags of 72 countries where homosexuality is illegal — in 12 of the countries, homosexuality is punishable by death. Even though the countries specifically target homosexuals, their anti-gay laws often apply to bisexuals and transgender people as well.
Photographer Pieter Henket shared an image of de Hingh in the dress on his Instagram, explaining that a Dutch LGBT organization (known as the COC) created the dress with the help of fashion designer Matthijs van Bergen and artist Oeri van Woezik; van Bergen is openly gay.
de Hingh is the first trans model ever to have been represented by the international modeling agency IMG Models (though she might be interested to know about Thailand’s trans-only modeling agency or Tracey Norman, one of the first trans models in America). She is also EuroPride’s first-ever transgender ambassador; EuroPride is a pan-European LGBT celebration held in a different European city each year.
On her Instagram, de Hingh said, “Every country that changes its [anti-LGBT] legislation will have its flag replaced by a rainbow flag. Let’s hope this dress will represent a patchwork of rainbows sooner rather than later.”
