Ariel Nicholson Murtagh (born January 23, 2001) is a New York-based model, writer, and

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

activist. She was the first openly

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

model to walk in a

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...

presentation and the first openly transgender women on the cover of ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

''. Her writing has appeared in Perfect Magazine, amongst other publications.

Early life

Nicholson was born and raised in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. At an early age, she told her parents that she did not "belong as a boy" and, in fifth grade, began using female pronouns and taking

Lupron Leuprorelin, also known as leuprolide, is a manufactured version of a hormone used to treat prostate cancer, breast cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, for early puberty, as part of transgender hormone therapy, or to perform chemical c ...

to suppress the effects of male puberty. She was also seeing a therapist from the

Ackerman Institute for the Family The Ackerman Institute for the Family is a training institute for family and couple therapy. The Institute was founded in 1960, in New York City, by Nathan Ackerman, who became its first president and from whom the Institute derives its name. It is ...

at the time. When she was in eighth grade she was featured in the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary ''Growing Up Trans'', where she talked about her decision to go on

estradiol Estradiol (E2), also called oestrogen, oestradiol, is an estrogen steroid hormone and the major female sex hormone. It is involved in the regulation of female reproductive cycles such as estrous and menstrual cycles. Estradiol is responsible ...

Work

While she was a high school student, Nicholson signed with DNA Model Management. She was chosen by

Raf Simons Raf Jan Simons (; born 12 January 1968) is a Belgian fashion designer. Beginning in furniture design, Simons launched his own menswear label in 1995. He was creative director at Jil Sander (2005–2012), Christian Dior (2012–2015), and Calvin Kl ...

to walk for

's 2018 Spring/Summer fashion show, making her modelling debut. She was the first transgender woman to walk in a Calvin Klein fashion show. Nicholson has since appeared in Calvin Klein advertisement campaigns, editorials in ''

'' and '' W'', and has walked in runway shows for

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...

and

Miu Miu Miu Miu is an Italian high fashion women's clothing and accessory brand and a fully owned subsidiary of Prada. It is headed by Miuccia Prada and headquartered in Milan, Italy. Silvia Onofri is its CEO. History Miu Miu was established in 1992 ...

. She was photographed by Mert & Marcys for the cover of ''

Love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

s anniversary issue. She was featured on the September 2020 cover of '' Italian Vogue''. In October 2020, Nicholson was featured in '' V Magazines ''The Thoughts Leaders'' issue. In 2021, Nicholson became the first openly transgender person to be featured on the cover of ''

''.

Activism

She volunteers with Gender & Family Project, an organization that supports transgender youth and their families.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Ariel 2001 births Living people Activists from New Jersey American transgender women Female models from New Jersey LGBTQ people from New Jersey American LGBTQ rights activists People from Mahwah, New Jersey People from Park Ridge, New Jersey Transgender rights activists Transgender female models American women civil rights activists 21st-century American LGBTQ people Transgender history in the United States