Benjamin Melzer | |
|---|---|
 Melzer in 2016. | |
| Born | January 20, 1987 Germany |
| Known for | Modeling, transgender activism |
| Height | 5’ 10” |
Benjamin Ryan Melzer [1] is a German model, transgender activist, and blogger.
He has modeled in German magazines Der Tagesspiegel , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Der Spiegel , and Focus. [2]
In April 2016, he became the first transgender man in Europe to appear on the cover of a men's fitness magazine. This was the European edition of Men's Health . [2] [3] [1]
Melzer was born and raised in Oer-Erkenschwick, a suburb 40 minutes's commute from Düsseldorf. [4]
In 2016, he starred in a modeling shoot for Diesel and About You alongside Dutch model and trans woman Loiza Lamers. [5]
The same year, he starred in PETA's "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" campaign alongside Lamers. [6] [7] [8]
Mezler stated that he knew there was "something special" about himself at 3 years of age, but lacked information to classify this as childhood gender dysphoria. [4] After watching a documentary film about transgender actor Chaz Bono when Melzer was 18, he realized he had been experiencing gender dysphoria. [4]
Five years later, at age 23, [9] he decided to begin his medical transition, which included masculinizing hormone therapy and 11 surgeries. [4] His entire family was supportive, including his 89-year-old grandmother, [4] and his mother, who came to the clinic every day to bring him food as he recovered. [10] He has called top surgery "the most important surgery for all trans men"; right after his healing process was over, he went to a public pool and jumped into the water with just shorts on, which he described as "the best". [4]
Mezler and his previous female partners have always identified as straight. He has dated his fiancé Zara from at least 2010 to 2017; Zara had always seen him as a man, even prior to his medical transition. [4]
Regarding his satisfaction after his transition, he stated, "I'm totally comfortable now and I listen and try to understand things more. I've calmed down and feel very, very different...I don’t think I have to prove anything. Look at me, I'm happy and I have a girlfriend. I just live my life". [4]
He has criticized the way trans people are portrayed on German TV, describing their appearances as "a little freaky, over the top or completely depressed". He stated, "I want to show the world that I’m just a normal guy who happens to be trans". [4]
Melzer's hobbies include surfing, wakeboarding, and cliff jumping. [11]
He lived in Munich, but more recently resides in Recklinghausen.[ citation needed ]
One of his goals is to make the modeling business more accessible to transgender models. [4] He also expressed a desire to star in a Calvin Klein commercial. [4]
He married German model Sissi Marie Melzer ( née Hofbauer) in 2023. [12] [13] [14]
Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identity—their personal sense of their own gender—and their sex assigned at birth. The term replaced the previous diagnostic label of gender identity disorder (GID) in 2013 with the release of the diagnostic manual DSM-5. The condition was renamed to remove the stigma associated with the term disorder. The International Classification of Diseases uses the term gender incongruence instead of gender dysphoria, defined as a marked and persistent mismatch between gender identity and assigned gender, regardless of distress or impairment.
Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender. The phrase is most often associated with transgender health care and intersex medical interventions, though many such treatments are also pursued by cisgender and non-intersex persons. It is also known as sex reassignment surgery (SRS), gender confirmation surgery (GCS), and several other names.
Harry Benjamin was a German-American endocrinologist and sexologist, widely known for his clinical work with transgender people.
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), formerly the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA), is a professional organization devoted to the understanding and treatment of gender identity and gender dysphoria, and creating standardized treatment for transgender and gender variant people. WPATH was founded in 1979 and named HBIGDA in honor of Harry Benjamin during a period where there was no clinical consensus on how and when to provide gender-affirming care.
The Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People (SOC) is an international clinical protocol by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) outlining the recommended assessment and treatment for transgender and gender-diverse individuals across the lifespan including social, hormonal, or surgical transition. It often influences clinicians' decisions regarding patients' treatment. While other standards, protocols, and guidelines exist – especially outside the United States – the WPATH SOC is the most widespread protocol used by professionals working with transgender or gender-variant people.
A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identity or alleviates gender dysphoria.
Transgender rights in Iran are limited, with a narrow degree of official recognition of transgender identities by the government, but with trans individuals facing very high levels of discrimination, from the law, the state, and from wider society.
Ray Milton Blanchard III is an American-Canadian sexologist who researches pedophilia, sexual orientation and gender identity. He has found that men with more older brothers are more likely to be gay than men with fewer older brothers, a phenomenon he attributes to the reaction of the mother's immune system to male fetuses. Blanchard has also published research studies on phallometry and several paraphilias, including autoerotic asphyxia. Blanchard also proposed a typology of transsexualism.
Chest reconstruction refers to any of various surgical procedures to reconstruct the chest by removing breast tissue or altering the nipples and areolae in order to mitigate gender dysphoria. Chest reconstruction may be performed in cases of gynecomastia and gender dysphoria. People may pursue chest reconstruction, also known as top surgery, as part of transitioning.
The American-Canadian sexologist Ray Blanchard proposed a psychological typology of gender dysphoria, transsexualism, and fetishistic transvestism in a series of academic papers through the 1980s and 1990s. Building on the work of earlier researchers, including his colleague Kurt Freund, Blanchard categorized trans women into two groups: homosexual transsexuals who are attracted exclusively to men and are feminine in both behavior and appearance; and autogynephilic transsexuals who experience sexual arousal at the idea of having a female body. Blanchard and his supporters argue that the typology explains differences between the two groups in childhood gender nonconformity, sexual orientation, history of sexual fetishism, and age of transition.
Gender incongruence is the state of having a gender identity that does not correspond to one's sex assigned at birth. This is experienced by people who identify as transgender or transsexual, and often results in gender dysphoria. The causes of gender incongruence have been studied for decades.
Sexuality in transgender individuals encompasses all the issues of sexuality of other groups, including establishing a sexual identity, learning to deal with one's sexual needs, and finding a partner, but may be complicated by issues of gender dysphoria, side effects of surgery, physiological and emotional effects of hormone replacement therapy, psychological aspects of expressing sexuality after medical transition, or social aspects of expressing their gender.
A transgender person is someone whose gender identity differs from that typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.
A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance to help them align their body with their identified sex or gender.
Gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT), also called hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or transgender hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy in which sex hormones and other hormonal medications are administered to transgender or gender nonconforming individuals for the purpose of more closely aligning their secondary sexual characteristics with their gender identity. This form of hormone therapy is given as one of two types, based on whether the goal of treatment is masculinization or feminization:
Transgender pregnancy is the gestation of one or more embryos or fetuses by transgender people. As of 2024, the possibility is restricted to those born with female reproductive systems. However, transition-related treatments may impact fertility. Transgender men and nonbinary people who are or wish to become pregnant face social, medical, legal, and psychological concerns. As uterus transplantations are currently experimental, and none have successfully been performed on trans women, they cannot become pregnant.
Transgender health care includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions for transgender individuals. A major component of transgender health care is gender-affirming care, the medical aspect of gender transition. Questions implicated in transgender health care include gender variance, sex reassignment therapy, health risks, and access to healthcare for trans people in different countries around the world. Gender affirming health care can include psychological, medical, physical, and social behavioral care. The purpose of gender affirming care is to help a transgender individual conform to their desired gender identity.
Loiza Lamers is a Dutch model and businesswoman best known for being the winner of the eighth cycle of Holland's Next Top Model, and the world's first transgender winner of the global Top Model TV-franchise.
The following is a timeline of transgender history. Transgender history dates back to the first recorded instances of transgender individuals in ancient civilizations. However, the word transgenderism did not exist until 1965 when coined by psychiatrist John F. Oliven of Columbia University in his 1965 reference work Sexual Hygiene and Pathology; the timeline includes events and personalities that may be viewed as transgender in the broadest sense, including third gender and other gender-variant behavior, including ancient or modern precursors from the historical record.
Aydian Dowling is an American YouTuber, entrepreneur, model, fitness and life coach, and transgender activist. He began his YouTube channel in 2009 to document his journey taking testosterone and experience as a transgender man. In 2015, Aydian was featured on the cover of FTM Magazine recreating a nude photo of Adam Levine, which led to the rise of his modeling career. Aydian won the Reader's Choice Award in the 2015 Men's Health "Ultimate Men's Health Guy", and was featured on the special edition cover in November 2015. He was the first transgender man to be featured on a cover of Men's Health. He was subsequently featured on the covers of both Gay Times magazine and IN Magazine in 2016.
