May 28, 2015
Trans Bodybuilder Model Sits Down With Ellen
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Aydian Dowling, the model poised to become the first transgender person to grace the cover of Men's Health magazine, sat down with Ellen DeGeneres this week to talk about his story.
Dowling, who is also a trans activist, explained to the daytime talk show host about how he had to come out twice in his life: first as a lesbian and then later as a transgender man. He said he first came out as a lesbian when he was 13 and later to friends and family when he was 17.
"It just felt like something didn't fit. I felt like I was only a lesbian because I was a girl that liked girls. That's a title that was put on me rather than the title that I felt I identified with," Dowling, 27, said. "So I was driving home one day with an ex-girlfriend of mine, and she asked me, "'Have you ever thought about being a boy?'"
"'Why are you asking me that question for, I don't know,'" he continued. "I went that night and that question was stuck in my head."
He said he then started Googling about being transgender and "the Internet just engulfed me."
He goes on to tell DeGeneres that he's currently at his most authentic self.
Dowling made headlines last month when it was realized he was leading Men's Health's "Ultimate Guy Search," the fitness magazine's online model search, which is looking for a guy "who is fit and fearless, a doer who gives back and leads by example," to cover its November 2015 issue.
As of this writing, Dowling has nearly 62,000 votes -- more than five times the votes of the man who is in second, who has 12,865 votes.
You can vote for him by clicking here.
Watch Dowling's interview below:
