The QueerCentric

Matthew Breen is the editor in chief of The Advocate and the deputy editor for Out. Breen was named Editor in Chief of The Advocate in March 2011. He first joined the Out staff in 2003.

www.advocate.com

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Thomas M. Garnet is the owner of his own full time video production company in Miami, FL. Along with his partner of 22 years, he runs also two divisions of the company specifically catered to the LGBT community – Click Click Expose (Gay Entertainment Media) – which targets pageantry, podcasting and internet radio and the CCE Sports Network. Thomas is a former Managing Director of AMC Theatres and Loews Theatres, a former public school teacher and was the field producer for the 1993 March on Washington video which was produced by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. After leaving teaching, management and public policy – he devotes his efforts full time to his passion – which is video production and live web streaming.

Kevin Majoros is the contributing sports writer for the Washington Blade and the host of Capital Sports TV on the CCE Sports Network. As an athlete, Majoros is an 8-time Gay Games medalist in the sports of swimming, track and field and open-water swimming.

Fund Drive:  http://www.mainplayersystem.com/radio/player/93?size=mini

We’re Making Sports History

The CCE Sports Network is the nation’s first and only LIVE web streaming on-line sports website dedicated exclusively to broadcasting the Gay and Lesbian Sports community. Did you know there are more than 200 tournaments, matches and games happening somewhere across the United States? Every month, more than 100,000 LGBT athletes have their choice of dozens of tournaments that can participate & compete.

WE HAVE CREATED A FLEXIBLE AND MOBILE LIVE WEB STREAMING PRODUCTION TEAM CAPABLE OF FILMING, EDITING, LIVE STREAMING AND PRODUCING VIDEO CONTENT COVERING THE BREATH AND DEPTH OF THE GAY AND LESBIAN SPORTS COMMUNITY.

The Production Vision

1) To create a multi-camera broadcast complete with play by play commentary, on-screen scoring, music, commercials and interviews;

2) To create an engaged audience through live chat and live photography updates during the live web broadcast;

3) To produce monthly content that will drive on-line viewership which includes news & sports shows, documentaries and instructional videos;

4) To create diversity in programming by showcasing a number of different sports including tennis, soccer, hockey, basketball, swimming, wrestling, figure skating, water polo, diving. By the end of 2016, we wish to add volleyball, softball, bowling, rowing, rugby & flag football to the live broadcast schedule.

WE ARE A FREE SERVICE TO ALL LGBT SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTED BY SPONSORS, ADVERTISERS, DONATIONS & COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS.

Our Web Audience

1) There are more than 8 LGBT national association governing bodies who promote, host, train and advocate for their member sports. Each association has thousands of members, hundreds of individual clubs and dozens of tournaments, matches and events throughout the year.

2) With more than 100,000 active LGBT sports athletes (competing in more than 200 tournaments, matches & games) who have family, friends, fans & supporters – the CCE Sports Network has the ability to attract more than 500,000 viewers to its live broadcast & archived content. Expanding to the LGBT community at-large and sports fans across the world, we have a potential audience of more than 1 million viewer interactions through live broadcast, archived content, live chat & live photography updates.

WE HAVE STARTED OUR 4TH YEAR OF BROADCASTING AND HAVE ACHIEVED:

30 LIVE broadcasts;

Broadcast Event Focus and Timetable

Broadcast Year 1 – May 1, 2012 – Dec 31, 2012 — Tennis

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Charlie David:

Charlie David has been a host for E! Television, NBC, OutTV, LOGO, here! TV, Pink TV, EGO, Fine Living and Slice Networks on such shows as FYE!, SpyTV, Crash Test Mommy and his travel series Bump which shot over 100 episodes around the world and garnered a Hugo Television award. He has appeared as musical guest on VH1, BBC, CBS’s The Early Show, and dozens of radio shows.

In 2005 Out Magazine recognized Charlie in the ‘Out 100’ at their gala in New York. In 2007 the Philadelphia Film Society awarded Charlie with their Rising Star Award. In 2008 the Festival del Sol in Gran Canaria awarded their Best Male Actor Award to Charlie and the male cast of A Four Letter Word. Formerly in a rock band… okay, actually it was a boy band, Charlie opened for Destiny’s Child, Pink, Snoop Dogg, Rick Springfield and Black Eyed Peas.

A love of storytelling led Charlie to start Border2Border Entertainment Inc., a production company whose film and television credits include Mulligans, Judas Kiss, I’m a Stripper (series), Studlebrity and Positive Youth. Border2Border Entertainment’s films have been licensed to Showtime, Super Channel, HBO Canada, MTV/LOGO, Sundance Channel, Condé Nast Entertainment, Discovery Networks, The Movie Network, Movie Central, Encore Avenue, and OutTV in North America as well as finding a worldwide audience through international distribution partners.

He is a graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts and his current passions include motorcycle cruises, high adrenaline encounters with wildlife, SCUBA diving and sports. He resides in Toronto and Montréal, Canada when he’s not living out of a suitcase.

Element Twenty Two

Where the Bears Are:

Ian is a film school graduate and moved to Los Angeles from his home state of Pennsylvania. He has worked a variety of jobs in the film industry and is currently a successful editor and sound designer for features, as well as an actor in his off time.

Visit wherethebearsare.tv  To watch Ian and the rest of the cast.

First Episode Season 1

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Two Spirits:

Raven Heavy Runner is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana. He was raised both on the Blackfeet Reservation and Seattle Washington. Raven was a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school youth, Seattle street kid, U.S. Army veteran, stage actor, Two-Spirit leader, Native Activist, college graduate, Indian Child Welfare social worker, and storyteller. He was partly raised on the Blackfeet Reservation with his grandparents. Raven in the chair of the Northwest Two-Spirit Society, a board member of the Montana Two-Spirit Society and the Northwest Two-Spirit Society’s delegate to the International Council of Two-Spirit Societies. He sits on several other Native boards and currently works as a social worker with Native Elders in Western Washington.

Co Guest – My name is Steven Barrios (Long Time Holy Rain) Blackfeet. I was born in Yakima, WA and raised on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana. In my role as a Two-Spirit leader I have served on the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center Harm Reduction Board, Montana Gay Men’s Task Force, Montana’s Harm Reduction Team, Montana CPG,

This includes work as a Hep C Educator. For the past several years, I’ve been providing Two-Spirit presentations to the general public, but also providing this information to Native people who identify as LGBTQ, hoping to instill as sense of pride and connection to who that are as Native people.. This work is my passion.

Visit these links to learn more:

Raising Two-Spirit Youth: by National Resource Center for Tribes

Tribal Equity Toolkit by Indigenous Ways of Knowing

Becoming Two Spirit by Brian Joseph Gilley

The Spirit and the Flesh by Walter Williams

Living the Spirit by Will Roscoe

Two-Spirit defined by wikipedia

Two-Spirits the movie

The International Council of Two-Spirit Societies [Most are found on Facebook]

Montana Two-Spirit Society

Header Graphic from Poster of 2016 Texas Two Spirits posterand Crowd funding  https://www.gofundme.com/texastwospiritspride

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Doug Spearman

Chely Wright rose to fame as a commercial country singer in the 90’s, having released eight studio albums selling more than 1,000,000 copies in the U.S. and charted more than 15 singles on the Billboard charts.  On the strength of her debut album in 1994, the Academy of Country Music named Chely Top New Female Vocalist of 1995.  Her first hit came in 1997 with “Shut Up and Drive” followed two years later by her first number one single, “Single White Female” and in 2005, the zeitgeist – capturing hit “The Bumper of My S.U.V.”

In 2010, Chely Wright released her eighth album, “Lifted Off the Ground” produced by Rodney Crowell, revealing a dramatic artistic transformation and emerging as a singer songwriter of the first order.  The album would never have come to be were it not for an equally dramatic personal transformation which she candidly and painstakingly documented in a memoir entitled “Like Me” published by Random House the same day.  Chely made history by being the first country music star to come out publicly as gay. Wright has cited among her reasons for coming out a concern with bullying and hate crimes toward LGBT people, particularly LGBT youth, and the damage to her life caused by “hiding”.

In the midst of a tumultuous political climate about the civil rights of the LGBT community, the 2011 award-winning documentary “Wish Me Away” was released. The critically acclaimed film chronicles Chely Wright’s journey growing up and then moving to Nashville to become a country singer.  It portrays her preparing for the day she comes out publically and then depicts the aftermath of her decision.

Chely Wright’s soul-searching has led to many rewards. The LGBT role model serves as the national spokesperson for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and speaks out against school bullying. Wright founded The LIKEME® Organization, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance, resources and education to LGBT individuals and their family & friends. Wright also founded The LIKEME® Lighthouse, an education and community center for gay youth in Kansas City, MO. The Lighthouse recently celebrated its fourth anniversary with a sold out fundraising gala at the Folly Theater featuring Wanda Sykes, Judy Gold, Wendy Liebman and Steve Grand.

Chely Wright is married to activist and author Lauren Blitzer-Wright, who is currently Director of Marketing for Sony Entertainment. As of 2013, the two became parents to twin boys. In December 2014, Wright performed an original Christmas carol at the annual National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony on the White House lawn in Washington, DC with President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

Lifted off the Ground may be Chely Wright’s seventh album, but on a number of levels it feels and sounds like her first, revealing an artist who has undergone a dramatic artistic transformation, emerging as a singer/songwriter of the first order. But the new album would never have come to be were it not for an equally dramatic personal transformation, which she has candidly and painstakingly documented. Lifted Off the Ground will be released on Vanguard Records May 4, the same day Random House publishes Wright’s autobiography, Like Me.

Though she made her name as a commercial country singer, recording songs from some of Nashville’s top writers—including modern-day classics like “Single White Female,” “Shut Up and Drive” and “Jezebel”—Wright had been honing her craft as a songwriter since her teenage years in rural Kansas. She was signed as a writer in 1993 and wrote half of her first and second albums before realizing she still had a ways to go before she was ready to bang ’em out with the big boys. But she kept working at her craft, placing a handful of original songs on each of her subsequent records, and coming up with a Top 10 hit for Clay Walker before penning eight songs on her most recent album, 2005’s Metropolitan Hotel, including the zeitgeist-capturing hit “The Bumper of My S.U.V.” That release followed on the heels of the rarities collection Everything, containing previously unreleased originals.

Through Wright views Everything as a heartening if relatively unsophisticated stab at finding her voice, she now regards Metropolitan Hotel as “a half-assed attempt to step forward as an artist. I chickened out and went back to my old golf swing,” she says with a rueful laugh. Despite her reservations, those two LPs earned Wright widespread critical acclaim—but nothing in her ample body of work hints at the extraordinarily personal and powerful material she pulled out of her innermost being for the new record.

While it’s fair to say that Lifted Off the Ground was five years in the making, the process began with an unmaking—a breakup leading to what she describes as a breakdown on the way to her ultimate breakthrough. The resulting songs required an acutely sensitive producer to blossom into life, and Wright considers herself extremely fortunate to have had Rodney Crowell come into her life at the critical moment. It’s little wonder she calls him “Shep,” short for “Song Shepherd” (in turn, he calls her Richell, her given name, just as a big brother might), because he was with her every step of the way during the course of those five years, prodding her, encouraging her, pulling her back from the edge of the abyss more than once.

The result is a remarkable song cycle of a woman climbing inch by inch out of a deep hole into the sunlight, from the one-two gut punch of the opening tandem of “Broken” and “Heavenly Days,” the latter co-written with Crowell, through the rocking, wicked-clever black comedy “Notes to the Coroner” the crystalline dreamscape “Snow Globe” and the revelatory “Like Me,” to the closing “Shadows of Doubt,” which could serve as Wright’s credo. “Those songs and my bicycle saved my life,” she says, without a trace of hyperbole.

The story begins in the winter of 2006, with a heartbroken Chely self-exiled to her bedroom, living in her pajamas, songs flooding out of her. “I didn’t have any choice,” she says. “It was no longer about decision making,” she recalls. “So I can’t really take credit for ‘taking that bold step’ and writing a whole record. Cognitively speaking, I didn’t have all that much to do with it. These songs were annoying me, every single day—I had to let them out. They felt different as they came out. There was no formula; there was no Nashville Music Row template. Quite frankly, I just wanted to sleep.”

Seized by emotions she neither understood nor had any control over, Chely obsessively strummed her treasured Gibson guitar till her fingers were as raw as her psyche. “I didn’t really play guitar until my breakdown,” she explains, “but it was a cold winter, and I couldn’t stand to be downstairs where my piano is, so I just stayed in bed with my J200 and literally played till my fingers bled. I put Super-Glue on the ends every morning and kept sticking fake nails on my fingers so I could keep strumming—just really primal.”

By the end of February 2006, Chely had managed to shape this emotional torrent into a batch of songs, which by then were no longer annoying her but intriguing her. At this “Now what?” moment, she immediately thought of Crowell, who was one of her musical heroes. She barely knew him, but she’d somehow captured his number in her cell phone, so she called him cold and asked if she could come see him. Minutes later, she was standing on Rodney’s porch, guitar in hand, heart beating out of her chest. He welcomed her in and led her up to his studio, whereupon she played him some of the new songs, including “Wish Me Away,” “Hang Out in Your Heart” and “Object of Your Rejection,” tears streaming down her perfect cheekbones all the while. They talked about the songs, and how different they were from anything she’d done before, and they talked about the raw state she was in. To Chely’s great relief, Rodney then offered his musical and personal support.

Though their bond was forged that day, Chely was a long way from acting on it. He emailed her, told her he couldn’t stop thinking about the songs and asked if she had them on tape. She replied that she’d laid down the songs on her hard-disc recorder as she wrote them. “He said, ‘Bring them to me—let’s get together,’” Chely remembers. “And I wrote back, ‘I don’t want to get together.’ Embarrassment had set in that I had called Rodney Crowell in such a state. He said, ‘All right. Then drop the songs in my mailbox.’ So I did, and a month later he sent me another email that just read, ‘Songs, please.’”

Thus began a rather unconventional mentoring process during which Chely would drop off her home recordings in Rodney’s mailbox, and he’d email his comments on the material, prompting the next round of recordings to be made and left at the designated drop point. As she describes it, “I’d wait till he’d email me, and I’d say, ‘OK, I’ve got four more.’ It was like he was my sensei: ‘Richell, songs, please.’” This email dialogue went on for nine months, until she was finally ready for a face-to-face conversation.

When they got together, Rodney told Chely over dinner that he was emotionally invested in the material she’d been working on. “You need to let me make a record with you.” To which Chely replied, “Record? That never even crossed my mind.” He then said, “Richell, this is your next record, and I need to produce it.” “But I’m not ready to make a record. These songs are still coming at me.” “That’s fine. Just call me when you’re ready.” “I will.”

Eventually, Chely was ready, and she made the call, by then with “That Train” and “Notes to the Coroner” in hand, the latter at Rodney’s instigation. They tracked six songs, with Rodney’s go-to guys forming the studio band lineup. Hitting the road for some tour dates, she kept writing, knocking off “Snow Globe,” among others. Near the end of this elongated project, Chely called Rodney and asked him to come over. When he arrived, they had an extended heart-to-heart talk during which she told him about a song she’d been sitting on since the first month of her breakdown. Fittingly, rather than playing it for him, she emailed an MP3 of the song to him soon after he left her house. She then opened a new document on her laptop, typed the words “Like Me” and started writing her book. That evening, she enjoyed her first good night’s sleep in three years…

There’s quite a bit more to this story, and it will be told in full when the record and book arrive on May 4th.

Hal Sparks - 

Hal Sparks currently stars as ‘Donald Davenport’, on the hit Disney XD live-action comedy series “Lab Rats.” Since the show’s premiere in 2012, ‘Lab Rats” has been the network’s most watched program. The show has been added to the Disney Channel’s regular line-up garnering more fans and ratings than ever projected.

Sparks, who was born and raised in Kentucky, began his career in comedy as a member of the famed Second City Troupe in Chicago, where he was named “Funniest Teenager in Chicago” by the Chicago Sun Times. It wasn’t long before he was selected as to host E!’s Emmy Award-winning “Talk Soup” which led to his starring role as Michael Novotny on the groundbreaking Showtime series “Queer as Folk” (2000-2005).

Hal’s feature film credits include “The A-List,” “Extract,” “Spiderman 2” and “Dude, Where’s My Car?” In addition to TV, Hal’s popular “Politishock” radio program airs weekly on Sirius/XM. In addition to acting Hal tours the country headlining local comedy clubs and performing with his rock band Zero 1.

WEBSITE: halsparks.com

Facebook: /HalSparks

Twitter: @HalSparks

Instagram: @HalSparks

Damon Jacobs

WELCOME! If you are single or in a couple and looking for a different perspective on love, happiness, and pleasure, you’ve come to the right place. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has helped people find and maintain satisfying and joyful relationships with lovers, family members, and friends, for the past 18 years. Together, we will create the relationship “structure” and agreements that are uniquely right for you.

My approach to happiness and serenity is derived from tenets of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Social Justice Theory, and A Course In Miracles. The unique fusion of these models has enabled hundreds of my clients to create an enlightened balance of mind, heart, and action, as well as relationships that enable presence, peace, and pleasure.

I can help you explore and change issues related to:

- Diminished sexual desire in long-term relationships

My office is conveniently located at Madison Square Park (26th/ Broadway) in New York, New York. Late night appointments are offered on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, as well daytime on Saturdays. For more information, please email me at [email protected] or call 347-227-7707

David A. Condon is the 44th Mayor of the City of Spokane. Born in February 1974, the same year that Spokane was preparing to shine on the world stage at the Expo ’74 World’s Fair, David grew up watching the fireworks off Cliff Drive on the 4th of July, helping his mom at the House of Charity, and spending Friday nights in the fall at Joe Albi Stadium watching high school football games.

It was the Spokane that David grew up in, a place that was safe for families, fertile for businesses, and naturally stunning, that gave him a passion for this City. The youngest of ten children of Dr. John and Mrs. Carolu Condon, he was raised with a mind toward small business and service. After graduating from Gonzaga Prep School in 1992, he went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in Finance and Military Science from Boston College.

His career has spanned everything from starting four of his own coffee shops during his college years in Boston, to managing a dental practice in Spokane, to working as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Eastern Washington’s U.S. Congresswoman, Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Additionally, David served in the 25th Infantry Division over in Schofield Barrack, Hi, the 62nd Medical Brigade at Fort Lewis, WA, and 396th Combat Support Hospital at Mann Reserve Center, located in Spokane’s historic Hillyard neighborhood.

David and his wife Kristin are raising their three children in the Comstock neighborhood, not far from where David grew up. He is most passionate about Spokane, and making sure that this great City remains a place that his own children will want to stay and raise a family.

Raised in a rural community in the Nooksack Valley in northeast Whatcom County, Brady grew up around many of the challenges and opportunities we face today. Brady’s mom, Vicky, teaches English Language Learners in Nooksack Valley Schools – the same schools where Brady graduated. She came to the United States from Cuba with her parents, who put their three kids through college working their way up from washing dishes to becoming successful restaurant owners. On his dad’s side, Brady is a fifth generation Washingtonian. His dad, Charlie, is an agricultural educator and was born and raised in the 43rd Legislative District.

After graduating high school, Brady attended Princeton University on a scholarship where he studied public policy. On graduating, he went on to study as a Fulbright Scholar in Honduras. In Honduras, Brady founded Proyecto Villa Nueva, a non-profit that works to foster youth leadership and prevent violence in urban slums. In 2011, the Organization of American States recognized the program for its contributions to building a culture of peace.

Through his career, Brady has focused on promoting economic opportunity, environmental sustainability, and human rights. Brady worked as a Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supporting sustainable and productive food systems for the poor in developing countries. He spent time in Washington, D.C. working on interfaith dialogue for environmental and social justice with Georgetown University and the World Bank.

At home, Brady serves as the Chair of the Trust for Public Land’s Washington State Advisory Board and on the board of Intiman Theatre. As a legislator, Brady is committed to putting his values into practice through policies that support economic opportunity for all, preserve our environment for the future, and invest in the education system we need for our kids to succeed from pre-K thru college.

Brady lives on Capitol Hill with his partner Micah Horwith, a Seattle native and a marine biologist with the State’s Department of Natural Resources.

Learn More about Brady  www.bradywalkinshaw.com

Northwest fair housing alliance, Executive Director

Marley J. Hochendoner, J.D.

Ms. Hochendoner joined Northwest Fair Housing Alliance (NWFHA), a private non-profit fair housing education and advocacy organization based in Spokane, Washington, as Executive Director in April 2005. She is licensed as an attorney in Idaho and Washington. Ms. Hochendoner served as a staff attorney at Idaho Legal Aid Services from 1998 to 2003, where her practice included assisting tenants with landlord/tenant and fair housing matters. She was an in-house staff attorney for the Nez Perce Tribe from 2003 to 2005. Since joining NWFHA, Ms. Hochendoner has conducted numerous trainings for landlords, property managers, realtors, tenants, and social service providers. She has overseen fair housing investigation, counseling, and advocacy services provided under U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Housing Initiative Program grants, and numerous city and private contracts.

NORTHWEST FAIR HOUSING ALLIANCE

WA/ID/AK Agencies to Collaborate on Fair Lending Investigations

For more information, contact: Marley Hochendoner (509) 209-2667 or

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Andrew Christian

Since 1997, Andrew Christian is not only an iconic company, but it’s also backed by a real designer! With his innovative technologies, fit, and original designs, he has earned a spot in Inc Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in America for multiple consecutive years.

One of Andrew’s best sellers is his amazing line of technically advanced, custom woven men’s underwear. It is available in street, sport, fashion, and basic-themed lines, and is available in a range of styles, including low cut, super-low-cut, boxer briefs, and more. Each style is intricately designed using specialized dye treatments, printed graphics, and innovative materials such as bamboo fiber, sports mesh, and patented, moisture-wicking cotton blends. Andrew was the first to introduce waist slimming elastic in his underwear designs and “FlashLift” Bottom-Lifting Technology.

Andrew Christian is sold in hundreds of stores all around the world, including, but not limited to, luxury department stores, such as, Nordstrom USA, Selfridges UK, Kadewe Germany, and Simons Canada.

Andrew Christian was featured on Good Morning America, Fox News, Entertainment Tonight, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, MSNBC’s Hardball, Yahoo!, Daily Mail (London), The Wall Street Journal, Maxim, NY Daily News, The Boston Globe, New York Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Dallas Morning News, and as far away as the Times of India. Andrew was also featured on Seasons 3 and 4 of the popular Oxygen reality show, The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. Most recently, Andrew Christian was featured on Logo, as official “Pit Crew” sponsors for the popular competition show RuPaul’s Drag Race and Bravo’s reality television series, The Millionaire Matchmaker, hosted by Patti Stanger.

http://www.andrewchristian.com/

An iconic LGBT figure and known for his documentary ‘Mr. Angel’ on Netflix, Buck Angel has spread his message across the world on self-acceptance and being comfortable within your own skin. He has spoken at Yale and Cornell University. He also has had appearances on many media outlets such as Rolling Stone Magazine and Spike TV.

A connoisseur of the arts, Buck Angel educates, advocates, creates films and is a motivational speaker. To expand his message and inspire others, he created Buck Angel Entertainment. He also promotes his message at the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance as one of their Board of Directors.

His mission of advocating for others, especially within the transgender realm includes creating a sexual reassignment fund in 2013; he also created a dating website for transgender men, BuckAngelDating.com in 2012.

His dedicated work has gained him international recognition and even a prestigious award, naming him Transsexual Performer of the Year in 2007 from Adult Video News; the first female to male transsexual to even be nominated.

A message we should all incorporate, Buck Angel reminds and inspires us all to embrace and be proud of the bodies we have. There is nothing more empowering than feeling comfortable within your own skin.

OUTSpoken is pleased to Welcome Buck Angel!

Links:

Aydian Dowling, founder, is an FTM transgender activist from Long Island, New York.

Aydian Dowling is an FTM transgender businessman/activist/model from Long Island, New York who is gaining world-wide recognition as the lead contender in Men’s Health Magazines’ search for the “Ultimate Men’s Health Guy” 2015. If chosen, Aydian, will be the first transgender person to be on the cover Men’s Health and break down the stereotypes of what defines a man. Aydian was invited on “The Ellen Show” to discuss the contest and his transition. He gives an openly candid interview and dedicates his successes to the entire transgender community. Aydian is the cover of FTM Magazines’ April 2015 edition and the feature of a nude photo shoot that has since gone viral. In 2011, Aydian and his then fiancé Jenilee, were featured on the Emmy nominated MTV special It Gets Better Project which highlights the excitement and challenges of planning an LGBT wedding. Aydian has been paving the way for the “T” in the LGBT community since his 2009 launch of Alionsfear, a Youtube documentary and advice channel. Don’t forget to check out Point5cc, his clothing line, that caters to the fashion needs of transgender men and women. Twenty percent of every purchase made goes into The Surgery Fund. In his free time, Aydian enjoys putting his culinary skills to use (he is also a pastry chef) and hiking with Jenilee.