Playboy’s First Transgender Model Thanks Hugh Hefner, Warns Caitlyn Jenner About Surgery

Caroline “Tula” Cossey was casted to play a Bond girl in the film For Your Eyes Only, alongside star Roger Moore. She also posed in a spread for Playboy magazine, which featured her and other Bond girls from the film. She also appeared in the pages of Australian Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Tula’s life completely changed when the British tabloid, News Of The World, outed her as transgender.

The headline read,” James Bond Girl Was a Boy.” The tabloid’s headline caught attention of the media since no one in the early 80s understood what transgender meant. Cossey, 60, not only became Playboy’s first transgender model, but she was also a role model for other transgender people. Cossey continued acting and modeling. She even wrote two autobiographies and made her return to Playboy in 1991 for a special pictorial spread.

“Playboy’s readership is mostly male and heterosexual, so it allowed me to get out there and prove that people like myself can be sexy and attractive. That’s what I aimed to do at that point.”

Now in her first Playboy interview in 20 years, Cossey thanks Hugh Hefner for giving her a platform to speak out about transgender issues.

“I remember being invited to the Mansion to meet Hugh Hefner. He looked into my eyes and I immediately knew he felt my story. He felt my cause.”

She even appeared on talk shows and was able to talk about her gender identity at length. Cossey even discussed the differences among transsexuals, transvestites, and transgender people.

“It wasn’t just a 10- or 15-minute segment; it was an entire hour. And it gave people the chance to get to know me, to feel the situation and hopefully gain empathy and understanding. That was my goal, and Playboy was a great platform for that. Playboy rerunning my pictorial means something. So thank you, Hef.”

Cossey also gave Caitlyn Jenner some advice. The publication spoke to Cossey about Jenner prior to her reveal in Vanity Fair. That’s why Cossey refers to Caitlyn as Bruce and uses male pronouns.

“It was a bit of a shock, to say the least. He’s been such an incredible athlete and hero, with all those raging male hormones running through his body. Despite the media buildup, I actually forgot Diane Sawyer’s interview was airing. But I saw clips in the days after. The guy is obviously going through a lot of pain and suffering. I hope he finds his happiness, but it’s going to be tough. I hope he’s not in a hurry to get surgery. […] I would hate for him to lose his three-piece suit and live to regret it.”

Cossey says she hopes that Jenner doesn’t rush to get surgery. She also hopes that Jenner “gets the right counseling.”

“I’ve seen and heard so many horror stories of people going through surgery, becoming miserable and killing themselves because it was not the right step for them. And it’s a painful surgery.”

She also talked about seeing Laverne Cox in the media and in the public eye.

“I feel like I was probably so many years too early. Laverne Cox is so comfortable talking about it. It’s the changing times. You used to see a gay friend on a TV show only because it was fashionable. It’s not fashionable. It’s reality. It’s the way it is.”

Cossey revealed the reason she left acting and modeling is because she couldn’t handle all of the negative attention that came with being in the spotlight.

“There’s a difference between being known as Tula the transsexual international model versus just a successful model. It wasn’t the same. I felt like a circus act. I worried about my sanity. I wanted quiet. I wanted peace of mind and to fall back into society in a more regular manner as a loving and supportive wife.”

Unfortunately, the negativity of the press from the late ’80s remains with Cossey.

“I don’t know if I’ll if I’ll ever stop feeling like a second-class citizen. It’s embedded and instilled from birth. You grow up, you don’t fit in, you don’t belong, you’re bullied. That doesn’t go away in five minutes. I don’t think it ever goes away.”

Caroline Tula Cossey’s full interview in the July/August of Playboy magazine hits newsstands on June 26.

[Image: Playboy Magazine]