- Tech
-
-
Tech
The gadgets, platforms, and software that make your digital life possible. If it bleeps, clicks or blinks, you’ll find it here.
-
Devices
-
Categories
-
-
- Internet Culture
-
-
Internet Culture
-
Categories
-
Featured
-
-
- Streaming
-
-
Streaming
-
Services
-
Featured
-
-
- IRL
-
-
IRL
-
Categories
-
Featured
-
-
- Social
-
-
Social
-
Categories
-
Featured
-
-
- Live TV
-
-
Live TV
-
Services
-
Guides
-
-
- More
- Search
See all Editor's Picks →
See all Popular →
Represented by Complex Media, Inc. for advertising sales.
Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Ethics
Latest
- Beyoncé accused of paying dancers ‘low rates’ 4 Years Ago
- Timmy Thick blasted for saying the N-word in comeback video Today 9:11 AM
- Netflix’s ‘The Confession Killer’ is a devastating and well-built portrait of a con artist Today 8:00 AM
- Swipe This! I’m ashamed to tell anyone about my online shopping habit Today 6:00 AM
- UPS facing backlash for thanking police after employee killed in shootout Saturday 5:02 PM
- Sanders campaign fires staffer after anti-Semitic, homophobic tweets surface Saturday 3:13 PM
- Brother Nature was attacked, says everyone just watched with phones out Saturday 2:45 PM
- Ryan Reynolds’ gin company hires Peloton wife for ad Saturday 1:24 PM
- Ex-vegan YouTuber accused of fraud after following meat-only diet Saturday 1:11 PM
- The 15 best Disney+ hidden gems and deep cuts Saturday 12:23 PM
- Everyone in GoFundMe scam involving homeless veteran has now pleaded guilty Saturday 12:06 PM
- Boy invites kindergarten class to his adoption–and people are emotional Saturday 11:56 AM
- Reddit links leaked trade deal documents to Russian campaign Saturday 10:44 AM
- How to stream Alistair Overeem vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik Saturday 8:30 AM
- Amazon sends customers condoms and soap instead of Nintendo Switch Saturday 8:28 AM
Men’s Health won’t have its first trans cover model just yet
He may not be their ‘Ultimate Guy,’ but he’s still making history.
Transgender model Aydian Dowling announced yesterday on his Facebook page that, despite a massive social media campaign, he did not win the title of Men’s Health “Ultimate Guy” 2015.
Winning would have seen Dowling become the first trans cover star for the popular men’s magazine, and indeed the first trans man to appear on the cover of any men’s magazine.
In his announcement, Dowling wrote:
“Of course I hold feelings of disappointment for what could have been an amazing opportunity for our visibility as a community. The work we have put in the last six months was and is still completely relevant to our movement to full Transgender Rights and Equality. I would like to fully congratulate the winner – Tim, and ALL the other guys who shared this amazing journey with me!”
Dowling also gave his thanks to the 72,000 voters who placed him top of the Ultimate Guy Leaderboard, achieving nearly 50,000 votes more than the next most popular contestant.
Dowling’s Internet fame surged earlier this year when he recreated Adam Levine’s nude Cosmopolitan cover in FTM magazine’s spring issue, garnering him attention from both LGBT media outlets and the wider press. The picture of Dowling posing proud and naked became an emblem of both trans visibility and body positivity for trans men.
A Trans Model Recreated That Nude Adam Levine Portrait. So beautiful! http://t.co/u85GAMZYsc via @outmagazine #LGBT pic.twitter.com/LdoKtS5tNK
— PRIDE (@pride_site_) February 26, 2015
On his Instagram, Dowling said that his campaign to be the”“Ultimate Guy””still opened him up to transphobic abuse. “I was told over and how I do not deserve to be in this magazine,” he wrote. “Every day, over the last six months, [I received] new comments, emails and tags on how a transgender man is not a man—but there we are.”
Dowling has admitted he was pleasantly surprised at the supportive stance of Men’s Health and praised the magazine’s staff for their progressive attitude. In a recent interview with vlogger Raymond Braun, he said, “They’ve [Men’s Health] been really respectful and really trying to educate themselves, which is all I can really ask.”
A collector’s edition of Men’s Health features the five finalists of the “Ultimate Guy” competition, with Dowling labelled as “the pioneer.” This is a label Dowling is happy to own, noting in one of his YouTube videos that trans visibility in the media can only be a positive move forward:
“Imagine if you were a teenager at the grocery store and you saw a trans person on the cover of a magazine. . . What doors would that open in your possibilities of life and happiness? How much confidence do you think you would gain?”
In his Facebook statement, Dowling acknowledged that the fight for trans rights, visibility and inclusion are not over, but that through his Men’s Health campaign,”our community, together with our allies, have made a big mark in the minds and hearts of the mainstream media.”
Image via Point5cc

Catherine Scott
Catherine Scott is the author of 'Thinking King: The Collusion of BDSM, Feminism and Popular Culture.' Scott's work has been published in the Telegraph, the Guardian, Ms. Magazine, and Salon.