“Sports Illustrated”’s swimsuit issue featured its first trans woman of color on the cover.

Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue featured its first trans woman of color on the cover.The magazine’s latest swimsuit issue, which is the brand’s most famous and “perennially bestselling edition,” recently made history by featuring Leyna Bloom as the first transgender model on the front cover. The 27-year-old model, who is of Black and Asian descent, revealed the cover on Instagram with the caption writing: “I dedicate this cover to all ballroom femme queens past, present, and future. Many girls like us don’t have the chance to live our dreams, or to live long at all. I hope my cover empowers those, who are struggling to be seen, feel valued.” During an interview with Good Morning America, Bloom also said that she “never imagined” that she would be “born in a time when something like this would happen to someone with [her] skin tone.” The cover is clearly a major signifier that the publication is embracing diversity in many ways—something we know young people are looking for. (Good Morning America, CNN)