Aydian Dowling was born on July 16,1987 and is an American YouTuber, entrepreneur, model, fitness and life coach, and transgender activist.
24 Facts About Aydian Dowling
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Aydian Dowling began his YouTube channel in 2009 to document his journey taking testosterone and experience as a transgender man.
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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.
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Aydian Dowling 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.
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Aydian Dowling was the first transgender man to be featured on a cover of Men's Health.
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Aydian Dowling was featured on the covers of both Gay Times magazine and IN Magazine in 2016.
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Aydian Dowling grew up in Long Island with two older brothers and two step-siblings.
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Aydian Dowling was often described as a tomboy from a young age.
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Aydian Dowling felt out of place, even among masculine lesbians.
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Aydian Dowling had his first girlfriend at 16, and he began to question his identity when one of his girlfriends asked if he ever wanted to be a boy.
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Aydian Dowling considered the idea of being transgender, but he was disillusioned by the media's primarily transgender representation being drag king and drag queen performers, most of whom are cisgender outside of their persona.
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Aydian Dowling first found out about the existence of transgender men on the internet, where he saw a clip of Maury posted in 2007, in which Maury Povich interviews Thomas Lando and his sister about Lando's transition.
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Shortly after coming out, Aydian met his-wife, Jenilee Dowling, who he married in 2012.
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Right after high school, Aydian Dowling enrolled in community college to be a writer.
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Freedom for All Americans wrote a story on Aydian Dowling's experience being fired from a bakery job in Oregon following coming out to the owners of the shop, and include a video he recorded for his YouTube channel about his experience with employment discrimination for being transgender.
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Aydian Dowling was featured on the cover of FTM Magazine Spring 2015 issue.
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Also in 2015, Aydian Dowling competed in the Men's Health "Ultimate Men's Health Guy" competition.
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Aydian Dowling lost the cover contest, but won the Reader's Choice award with over 72,000 votes.
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Aydian Dowling appeared on the special edition cover with four other contestants, making him the first transgender man to be represented in Men's Health.
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Aydian Dowling made an effort to donate a portion of proceeds to their Annual Transgender Surgery Fund, and established a chest binder donation program.
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Aydian Dowling began documenting his transition on YouTube in 2009.
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Aydian Dowling began bodybuilding to masculinize his body after coming out as transgender.
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Aydian Dowling has done in-person bodybuilding training for transgender men in Eugene, Oregon, and currently works as a life coach and public speaker.
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Aydian Dowling's cover on Men's Health came out the same year that Laverne Cox was featured on the cover of Time magazine.