Meet Playboy's First Transgender Playmate, Ines Rau

Playboy is making headlines after it was revealed the magazine will feature its first-ever transgender Playmate in its November issue.

French model Ines Rau, 26, will be the centerfold in the upcoming issue of Playboy - it's also the first issue since the publication's founder Hugh Hefner died.

USA Today reports that even though several women pose nude in each issue there is only one centerfold, and Rau is no stranger to showing off her body. She posed fully nude in a May 2014 issue.

In a statement, Rau said posing nude in the 2014 issue was a way to celebrate her coming out as trans.

"I lived a long time without saying I was transgender," she said. "I dated a lot and almost forgot. I was scared of never finding a boyfriend and being seen as weird.

"Then I was like, 'You know, you should just be who you are. It's a salvation to speak the truth about yourself, whether it's your gender, sexuality, whatever,'" she added.

Rau may be the first Playmate to be featured in Playboy's centerfold but she isn't the first trans model to appear in the magazine. In 1991, Bond Girl Caroline "Tula" Cossey posed for Playboy, USA Today reports.

Nevertheless, Rau said she hopes to fight for a new class of models in the LGBTQ community. She also wants to fight global warming.

"I always knew from within, when I was a little kid in my room in the ghetto, that a beautiful destiny was waiting for me," she said. "I don't know how to explain it. A little voice was telling me, 'You'll see. Patience.'"

Playboy's chief creative officer, Cooper Hefner, spoke with The New York Times about the decision of choosing Rau as a Playmate, saying the move "speaks to the brand's philosophy."

"It's the right thing to do," Hefner told the Times. "We're at a moment where gender roles are evolving."

Check out some photos of Rau below.