Plumbing the Depths: Trans Male Quarterly Original Plumbing Breaks New Ground

Last year, Brad Pitt grew a floor-length beard. It was gray and mangy. Sure, tabloids took jabs at him here and there, but ultimately it was okay because he's one of a handful of men in this country who has come to epitomize modern masculinity. He's not afraid to tote all one hundred of his kids around town; he’s not afraid to take roles where he plays an old baby, and he certainly wasn't afraid to sport that grotesque beard for a year, which had all the texture and sex appeal of a clump of steel wool.

He may not be afraid to express himself, but it seems most men can’t seem to follow suit. Our culture’s obsession and rigidity with manhood is strange. The media is fickle and arbitrary when it comes to defining what a “real” man is. However, time has demonstrated that what constitutes masculinity is ever changing. The image of the Marlboro man is emblazoned in all of our minds — leathery brown face, camel-colored hat pulled down low, tucked-in shirt, furrowed brow. A few years back, mythical metrosexuality reared its weird, frosted-tipped head. Suddenly it was permissible for men to get manicures, wear melon-colored pants and eat low-carb candy in public. Mel Gibson, who for almost two decades served as an icon of maleness manifested, has revealed himself to be a racist, anti-Semite misogynist who has beat both his ex-girlfriend and child. So where are we left?

Say farewell to passé concepts of manhood. Allow us to introduce you to a man with whom you may not be familiar — yet. Say hello to Amos Mac, the Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of Original Plumbing, the first magazine in history made for and by transgender men and their allies.

"Even if it was free, I don't know if I'd want a penis of my very own,” says Mac, a foppish, alabaster 30-year-old from Augusta, GA. Why would he? Mac, an esteemed photographer who now dwells in San Francisco, is a visionary, and a staunch believer in the notion that gender is something that each person defines for themselves. Manhood is subjective, and this is a theme that OP explores in-depth. "A lot of people tell us that OP is changing the world for trans men," says Mac. "That it will help future generations know that other guys like them exist and that there isn't just one way to be a man."

The magazine was conceived in 2009 with Rocco Kayiatos, an out transgender hip hop artist/producer and long-time friend of Mac’s. Pairing their skills as artists, writers, activists, and fashion snobs, OP quickly came to fruition.

The magazine's grainy, pornish covers — all shot by Mac himself, are captured through a highly sexualized lens. They feature transgender male subjects in outlandish and arresting getups. Mac’s own aesthetic is much like that of the magazine. “Sometimes I wear the same tank top for a week straight. The other day I wore this hat from Italy, a gondolier hat, with a silk scarf wrapped around it. Margaret Cho gave me the hat. It’s amazing. Also, I really appreciate mesh.” As for Mac's sexual preference? "I find it hard to define my own sexuality. Regardless of who I've dated, I've always been gay. I have no celebrity crushes. Celebrity men are all too masculine." Bearded, too. Kayiatos, however, identifies as straight.

OP's revolutionary concept defies anything and everything that our limiting, defeatist culture tends to propagate about the sanctity of maleness. Whereas magazines like Maxim cater to the antiquated notion that men should be interested in little else besides scotch, women, and their own balls, OP encourages men, transgender or otherwise, to think for themselves. “The reason I started the magazine is because I wanted to create a space for trans guys to have platform to tell their own stories,” says Mac. With the exception of the press that Chaz Bono and Warren Beatty's transgender son Stephen (formerly daughter Kathlyn) have gleaned, trans men have historically been a mostly-invisible gender minority.

It’s a disarming fearlessness that characterizes OP's progressiveness — fearlessness not bred from a desire to shock, but a desire to educate, inspire and entertain its readers, no matter how esoteric the publication may initially seem. “It’s not like the purpose of Original Plumbing is to teach people about the basic tenets of transgender politics. I didn't go into publishing OP with the desire to have it be sold at the grocery check-out. I'm just trying to document various forms of human existence."