Transgender Man To Cover Mens Health Germany

Times Are Changing: Extremely Convincing TransMan Set To Cover Mens Health Germany

Mens’ Health magazine is featuring a transgender man on the cover of their German edition for the first time ever. The model, who won a national contest, began his transition at age 23, and now has a manly body that is able to be featured as an example of peak male fitness and physique. Via People:

In a groundbreaking move, the April cover of Germany’s edition of Men’s Health will feature a transgender man.

Transgender fitness model Ben Melzer won the magazine’s cover model contest, earning him the cover honors.

Born as Yvonne, Melzer started transitioning at age 23.

“This is me and I’m very happy with the person I became,” he says. “My inside and my outside finally fit and that’s why I’m not at all ashamed to talk about it.”

Which is how he gained the courage to share his story and enter the cover contest.

“Many ask me, ‘Why do you do this, why did you go public and tell your story?’ ” Melzer explains. “But that’s easy to answer. When I was in that situation, I had nobody to talk to, nobody to ask all this questions. That’s what I want to do. I want to give the community a face, stand up and answer those questions for people.”

Germany is surprisingly behind America’s curve on this one. The US edition of Mens’ Health actually had a transgender cover model last year through a similar cover model contest — a man by the name of Aydian Dowling:

It’s definitely a new day! What do you think of Mens’ Health’s inclusion of transgender fitness? It’s interesting…one would think a person born female would have a much tougher time reaching mens’ fitness standards. They may have had a greater hurdle to jump to achieve these bodies…