Transgender fitness model Ben Melzer is about to grace the cover of Gemany’s edition of Men’s Health, becoming the first trans person to ever cover a men’s fitness magazine in Europe.
Melzer’s cover came about after he entered German Men’s Health‘s cover-model contest.
Melzer confirmed to Towleroad that he will be appearing on the cover of the April collectors edition. The magazine hits newsstands in March.
Ben, who was born Yvonne, told us, “I started transitioning at the age of 23 and I always had a passion for fitness but because of the surgeries it was hard to achieve my goal.” He added, “After about 3 years everything was finally done and I started to concentrate on my training and diet.”
Melzer also recently spoke to Bild.de about his experience being raised as a girl. “I was never a typical girl. Pink was a no-go,” Melzer says in the video, pointing to a picture of him when younger, saying, “That’s why I’m crying [in] this picture. Because they made me wear pink.”
Of his life post-transition, Melzer says, “This is me and I’m very happy with the person I became. My inside and my outside finally fit and that’s why I’m not at all ashamed to talk about it.”
Melzer says he hopes he can use the publicity he’s receiving to give hope to other trans individuals.
“Many ask me: Why do you do this, why did you public and tell your story? But that’s easy to answer. When I was in that situation, I had nobody to talk to, nobody to ask all [these] questions. That’s what I want to do. I want to give the community a face, stand up and answer those questions for people. If there is one person out there I can help, I will succeed.”
Melzer told Towleroad, “I wanna show the world that we’re just normal guys. I wanna educate and give hope to others.”
Last year, trans bodybuilder Aydian Dowling became the first trans person to grace the cover of a Men’s Health magazine after entering U.S. Men’s Health‘s ‘Ultimate Guy’ contest and placing as a top 5 finalist.
RELATED – Trans Bodybuilder Aydian Dowling Opens Up His ‘Men’s Health’ Cover Journey : VIDEO
Watch a video on Melzer, below.
And check out some more photos of Melzer from his Instagram, here.
