Model Valentijn de Hingh wears dress made of flags from countries where homosexuality is a crime
Right now, as we sit at our comfortable desks, sip artisan lattes at our local coffee shops, or scroll through the endless videos of cute dogs or Donald Trump from the comfort of our living room, queer people in 72 countries could face criminal charges just for being a homosexual.
In 12 of those countries being gay or bisexual is punishable by death. These are; Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Mauritania, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, UAE, parts of Nigeria, parts of Somalia, parts of Syria, and parts of Iraq.
In 17 countries, bans are in place to prohibit ‘propaganda’ interpreted as promoting LGBT communities or identities. These are; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Somalia, Tunisia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lithuania, and Russia.
To bring attention to these extremities, Dutch designer Mattijs van Bergen draped trans model Valentijn de Hingh in a dress that patched together these countries flags together in hopes one day having a rainbow patched dress.
“That little lady wearing the big dress is me,” Hingh posted on Instagram. “Every country that changes its 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.”
Photographer Pieter Henke was brought on board to share the dress with the world.
De Hingh, who is Dutch, was EuroPride’s first transgender ambassador.
She started modeling in 2008 and has walked the runway for Comme des Garçons and Maison Martin Margiela, among others, and is the first transgender person ever to have been represented by IMG Models. Oh yeah, and she’s gorgeous!
“I dreamt of becoming a Disney princess,” de Hingh said last year. “I especially loved the character of Ariel, the little mermaid, who needed to change her body in order to change herself.”
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