By John Ruch
Photo: The cover of Original Plumbing’s special Atlanta issue. (John Ruch)
Atlanta guys are featured in the first city-specific issue of Original Plumbing, a New York-based trans men’s magazine. Charis Books, Atlanta’s landmark feminist bookstore, is holding a celebration and meet-and-greet with the featured guys tomorrow, June 28.
OP’s Atlanta issue was one of the jackpots I hit at the reading roulette that was this year’s Atlanta Zine Fest. So much about it is great, in form and function. Southern culture itself is already marginalized in America—let alone Southern trans culture. This issue introduces readers to a diverse array of local trans men, from white feminist pornographer James Darling to Christopher Dowdy, an athlete and man of color who is visually impaired and a Seventh-day Adventist. There are folks from the banking industry and from the UPS loading docks, from the political activist scene to the leather scene.
Best of all, in a city where trans people are largely talked about rather than with—in service to portraying them as criminals and/or clowns—this magazine lets people speak for themselves.
In fact, let me shut up for a minute:
Macc Rivera, on favorite things about Southern living:
“The cost of living and job opportunities. Coming from New York, you really to appreciate the amount of house you can get for your buck...Atlanta is the new Hollywood of the South.”
Boy Dana, on being a trans man in the South:
“As a trans man, not bad. Now as a black man, that’s a different story…Living in Atlanta makes it easier to be trans in the South. I say that because there is an amazing community here and I have access to great health care providers who are cool to the trans* community.”
Darling, on what he misses about the South since relocating:
“Waffle House! [Laughing.] I mean, let’s get real. Waffle House was a 24-hour community space.”
Oyle Slick on Southern cultural impacts on the trans community:
“Struggle. We are a Southern state. There is no gay marriage, no trans benefits. It is a fire at will state. There is no protection against discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. There is a huge problem with the criminalization of sex workers here, especially within the non-white trans feminine community.”
Dowdy, on the role of faith in his life:
“I pray a lot to get through challenges. I listen to Christian music. I understand that there is someone going through more difficult situations than I am.”
And on and on, in a great mag about great people in a great city.
And by the way, shouldn’t every mag have pin-ups of real people instead of airbrushed confections? Bonus points, OP.
OP decided to focus on Atlanta after editors attended the nearly quarter-century-old trans community Southern Comfort Conference here. The issue explains that event as well as other resources, such as Alphabet Soup and the Onyx club.
The local celebration event is slated for Sat., June 28, 4-6 p.m. at Charis Books, 1189 Euclid Ave. NE in Little Five Points.
Photo: The cover of Original Plumbing’s special Atlanta issue. (John Ruch)
Atlanta guys are featured in the first city-specific issue of Original Plumbing, a New York-based trans men’s magazine. Charis Books, Atlanta’s landmark feminist bookstore, is holding a celebration and meet-and-greet with the featured guys tomorrow, June 28.
OP’s Atlanta issue was one of the jackpots I hit at the reading roulette that was this year’s Atlanta Zine Fest. So much about it is great, in form and function. Southern culture itself is already marginalized in America—let alone Southern trans culture. This issue introduces readers to a diverse array of local trans men, from white feminist pornographer James Darling to Christopher Dowdy, an athlete and man of color who is visually impaired and a Seventh-day Adventist. There are folks from the banking industry and from the UPS loading docks, from the political activist scene to the leather scene.
Best of all, in a city where trans people are largely talked about rather than with—in service to portraying them as criminals and/or clowns—this magazine lets people speak for themselves.
In fact, let me shut up for a minute:
Macc Rivera, on favorite things about Southern living:
“The cost of living and job opportunities. Coming from New York, you really to appreciate the amount of house you can get for your buck...Atlanta is the new Hollywood of the South.”
Boy Dana, on being a trans man in the South:
“As a trans man, not bad. Now as a black man, that’s a different story…Living in Atlanta makes it easier to be trans in the South. I say that because there is an amazing community here and I have access to great health care providers who are cool to the trans* community.”
Darling, on what he misses about the South since relocating:
“Waffle House! [Laughing.] I mean, let’s get real. Waffle House was a 24-hour community space.”
Oyle Slick on Southern cultural impacts on the trans community:
“Struggle. We are a Southern state. There is no gay marriage, no trans benefits. It is a fire at will state. There is no protection against discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. There is a huge problem with the criminalization of sex workers here, especially within the non-white trans feminine community.”
Dowdy, on the role of faith in his life:
“I pray a lot to get through challenges. I listen to Christian music. I understand that there is someone going through more difficult situations than I am.”
And on and on, in a great mag about great people in a great city.
And by the way, shouldn’t every mag have pin-ups of real people instead of airbrushed confections? Bonus points, OP.
OP decided to focus on Atlanta after editors attended the nearly quarter-century-old trans community Southern Comfort Conference here. The issue explains that event as well as other resources, such as Alphabet Soup and the Onyx club.
The local celebration event is slated for Sat., June 28, 4-6 p.m. at Charis Books, 1189 Euclid Ave. NE in Little Five Points.