BERLIN (AP) — The German edition of Playboy magazine says it will feature a transgender model on its cover for the first time.

Editor-in-chief Florian Boitin said Tuesday that putting Giuliana Farfalla on the cover — topless, as is customary for such magazines in Germany — was in line with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's tradition of being "resolutely opposed to all forms of exclusion and intolerance."

Boitin says the 21-year-old Farfalla is a "wonderful example of how important the fight for the right to self-determination is."

Farfalla, born Pascal Radermacher in southwestern Germany, is already well-known in the country as a contestant last year on Heidi Klum's "Germany's Next Topmodel" television show.

The issue is due on newsstands Thursday.

U.S. Playboy featured a transgender "Playmate of the Month" last year.