After the death of Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy Magazine, everyone was suddenly an expert on Hefner and Playboy. There was no in between, he was either a pioneer or a villain. Unlike Playboy’s award winning columns, there was no nuance. Less then a month after his passing, Playboy Enterprises has given us something else to talk about. Transgender Playmate, Ines Rau is on the cover of Playboy!

My son and I summed up Hefner in this manner: “He had an impact on culture that could not be ignored.” Some feel that having a transgender playmate on the cover was exactly what Hugh Hefner wanted. I love that Playboy has not backed down in the face of criticism. They compared the current hate mail to hate mail they received when they featured their first black playmate over 50 years ago. Now, as a parent of a transgender teen and as a cis-het man, I will give my opinions after one more piece of context.

Besides my childhood, I have another connection to Playboy. As some of you know, I used to be a minister. Through twitter I had met a Playboy model, Bellator MMA ring girl and actress by the name of Jade Bryce.

She had an amazing story to tell. She overcame a hard childhood and became a professional model despite being shorter than industry standard. Jade even dared to give 20% of every paid gig to charity. This was a woman of strength and a savvy businesswoman who was willing to come to take time away from a shoot for Playboy in Chicago to spend time with the teens in my youth outreach.

People in m y church board complained because she was a Playboy model. The church who we rented space from for our youth meetings did not want her on their precious property. The former mayor contacted me to express his concerns and the local paper’s editor refused to cover her presence, her story and her generosity.

She met with the kids in the back room of a Chinese restaurant. She told her story, she showed the kids how to use a journal as a tool, and truly listened to the kids as they shared their stories. It was an amazing event and I would not have traded the event for anything.

Now for my thoughts, such as they are, on the matter.

Playboy, and Hugh Hefner, has a history of standing with and for Transgender models. Former Bond girl “Tula” was outed as trans without her consent by a British tabloid. Her career spiraled. One of the few that stood with her and for her was Hugh Hefner and Playboy. Her story did not end in the worst chapter, it continued with help. I applaud her for surviving the storm and every ally that stood by her.

Some will bring up concerns about body image and too much import on passing. Others will express concerns about sexualizing trans women. Still others will say transphobic things. Some of these perspectives are valid and others are BS.

My take? Ines is gorgeous. Tula is gorgeous. Jade is gorgeous. Like Jade, there is so much more to them than just the pictures. So very much more. There are stories to be celebrated and none of them have had an easy road to get where they are at.

I celebrate trailblazers who went through hell like Tula did that has allowed Ines to grace the cover of a major magazine and enter our consciousness. I’m proud of Playboy for not backing to hateful rhetoric as many business allies do. As complex an issue that Playboy is for some, I love most of the conversations I’m seeing regarding Ines.

We should celebrate these women. We live in an era where a woman does not have to be cis-het to be seen as a woman. That celebration can occur without shaming people who are not perfect models shot by a professional photographer. The celebration of Ines’ beauty can happen without asking all trans people to pass. All beauty can be celebrated, but in this moment, I choose to celebrate Ines and Playboy.

May the world continue to progress and may we be given more beauty to celebrate.