Aydian Dowling

Dowling posing for Metro Weekly magazine in 2016.

**Aydian Dowling**, born in Long Island, New York, is an transgender rights activist, philanthropist, model and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of Point 5cc and Point of Pride. He is most known for being semifinalist for the November 2016 "Ultimate *Men's Health* Guy" contest.

To fundraise for his top surgery, he created Point 5cc, a clothing shop that donates binders with purchase of a shirt, in 2012. He kept it open afterwards, in order to give back to the community. In 2016, he created its sister charity Point of Pride, which offers free binders and gaffs in addition to funding for electrolysis and surgery for trans people in need.

In 2015, he posed for the spring issue of *FTM Magazine*, re-creating a censored, nude photo of Maroon 5's Adam Levine. Dowling's wife Jenilee took the role of covering his genitals. The publication received much support, with founder Jason Ballard saying "We by no means mean to say that this is what all transgender males look like, but this is what one of us looks like and it's no different from our cisgender counterparts. We've had comments saying 'he doesn't look trans', which brings up a great point on what does trans even look like? Perhaps we're struggling so hard for our rights here because people have a false sense of who we are. So besides the entertainment factor of a sexy naked man, there is a element of positive visibility too."

He entered the US edition of "Ultimate *Men's Health* Guy" 2016 contest and entered the semi-finals. While he did not win the contest, ultimately losing to firefighter Tim Boniface, he was amongst the top five and was chosen as the Reader's Choice. He later was featured on the cover of *Men's Health* Special Collection Edition.

He was the first openly transgender man on *Gay Times*, a glossy gay magazine from the U.K., and is theorized by *Gay Times* editor Darren Scott to be the first on a gay magazine worldwide.

## Personal life

Dowling is a YouTube vlogger, posting about his transition and personal life, and a fitness enthusiast.

He married his wife, Jenilee Dowling in 2012, and has one son, Antler Joseph Dowling, born November 1, 2018.

### Social media

* Facebook
* Instagram
* Twitter
* YouTube

## Sources

1. ↑ https://www.metroweekly.com/2016/03/total-embodiment-an-interview-with-aydian-dowling/
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://point5cc.com/about/
3. ↑ http://point5cc.com/history/
4. ↑ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2966253/Transgender-activist-entrepreneur-raises-awareness-recreation-iconic-naked-photo-Adam-Levine-goes-viral.html
5. ↑ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/adam-levine-nude-marron-5-singer-gets-naked-for-cancer-in-cosmo-uk\_n\_805399
6. ↑ https://people.com/bodies/aydian-dowling-transgender-man-is-finalist-in-mens-health-cover-competition/
7. ↑ https://www.menshealth.com/trending-news/a19547862/tim-boniface-is-the-ultimate-mens-health-guy/
8. ↑ https://www.menshealth.com/trending-news/a19547473/top-five-ultimate-mens-health-guy/
9. ↑ https://people.com/bodies/aydian-dowling-loses-mens-health-cover-competition/
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/aydian-dowling-the-first-transgender-model-to-cover-gay-times-magazine-a6870341.html
11. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20190222225346/https://healthable.org/transgender-man-and-trans-activist-aydian-dowling-welcomes-first-child-with-his-wife/