Original Plumbing

On Wednesday Original Plumbing announced that their 1st issue was available for pre-order. I ordered my copy last night.

There's something about this magazine that makes me all warm inside. Living most of my life feeling disconnected from my anatomy and horribly awkward in my own skin has, admittedly, taken a bit of a toll on my self-esteem. It was hard to not feel "freakish" or unattractive throughout the years, unable to look at myself in the mirror or have a partner see me unclothed - potentially like any cisgender man would if he had to wake up every morning with breasts attached to his sternum, his Bob Dole missing, with curvaceous hips, etc. Whatever is going on in my trans guy noggin physiologically is very, very similar. Or so I imagine.

On top of that disconnect, there's an entire culture surrounding notions of beauty for men and women. The small amounts of exposure I had to trans people growing up was pretty negative (Silence of the Lambs comes to mind), where there were no additional expressions of trans aside from being sources of obscure entertainment or victims of hate crimes. None that I was aware of, anyway.

To come to terms with being a trans person right now frickin' rocks. There's a plethora of people sharing their experiences and building a supportive, inspiring foundation for trans people now and for future generations. There are allies galore, openly expressing support, understanding, and encouragement.

And now there's a magazine to show trans guys in a sexy light. Woot! The post-op, pre-op, the never-op, the genderqueer, the what-have-you, it's all here, being proud and open and hot and, yeah. I like it.

So, I ordered a copy. Just to stroke my own ego and to bask in a world of FTM pride n' sexiness. I deserve it, I says!