Veso Golden Oke | |
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Born | |
Citizenship | [1] |
Occupation(s) | Model, Actress, Activist, entrepreneur |
Veso Golden Oke (born 1993/1994) is a Nigerian trans rights activist, model, make-up artist and hairstylist. [2] [3] In 2019, she became the first openly transgender woman to compete in a beauty pageant in Africa. [4] [5] [6]
Oke was born to a Nigerian father and a Ghanaian mother. [6] She was raised Anglican. [6]
As a child, Oke was feminine and felt that she was a woman; she never identified as a gay man. [1] She has recalled that at age 8, she used to pray she would wake up in a girl's body. [3] At age 14, she learned online about transgender identity and came to terms with her own identity. [6] Although initially when she came out her family thought "the devil had taken over her," her parents soon became supportive. [6] [1]
In 2014, Oke left Nigeria and moved to Ghana. [6] There, she began working as a model and mentor to models in Accra. [1]
In August 2019, Oke competed in Miss Europe Continental, a beauty pageant being held in Ghana. [4]
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