Benjamin Ryan Melzer is a German model, transgender activist, and blogger. He has modeled in German magazines ''

Der Tagesspiegel (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunificati ...

'', ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

,'' ''

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'', and ''

Focus Focus (: foci or focuses) may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in East Australia Film *Focus (2001 film), ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based on the Arthur Miller novel *Focus (2015 ...

.'' In April 2016, he became the first transgender man in Europe to appear on the cover of a men's fitness magazine. This was the European edition of ''

Men's Health ''Men's Health'' (''MH''), published by Hearst Communications, Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries; it is the bestselling men's magazine on American newsstands. Started as a men's health magazin ...

''.

Biography

Melzer was born and raised in

Oer-Erkenschwick Oer-Erkenschwick is a town in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 5 km north-east of Recklinghausen, on the northern periphery of the ''Ruhrgebiet''. When pronouncing the name, “O ...

, a suburb 40 minutes's commute from

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. In 2016, he starred in a modeling shoot for

Diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

and About You alongside Dutch model and trans woman

Loiza Lamers Loiza Lamers (born 9 January 1995) is a Dutch model and businesswoman best known for being the winner of the eighth cycle of '' Holland's Next Top Model'', and the world's first transgender winner of the global '' Top Model'' TV-franchise. Ear ...

. The same year, he starred in

PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...

's "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" campaign alongside Lamers.

Gender transition

Mezler stated that he knew there was "something special" about himself at 3 years of age, but lacked information to classify this as childhood gender dysphoria. After watching a documentary film about transgender actor

Chaz Bono Chaz Salvatore Bono (born Chastity Sun Bono; March 4, 1969) is an American writer, musician and actor. His parents are entertainers Sonny Bono and Cher, and he became widely known in appearances as a child on their television show, ''The Sonn ...

when Melzer was 18, he realized he had been experiencing

gender dysphoria Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to inconsistency between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The term replaced the previous diagnostic label of gender i ...

. Five years later, at age 23, he decided to begin his medical transition, which included masculinizing hormone therapy and 11 surgeries. His entire family was supportive, including his 89-year-old grandmother, and his mother, who came to the clinic every day to bring him food as he recovered. He has called top surgery "the most important surgery for all trans men"; right after his healing process was over, he went to a public pool and jumped into the water with just shorts on, which he described as "the best". Mezler and his previous female partners have always identified as straight. He has dated his fiancé Zara from at least 2010 to 2017; Zara had always seen him as a man, even prior to his medical transition. Regarding his satisfaction after his transition, he stated, "I'm totally comfortable now and I listen and try to understand things more. I've calmed down and feel very, very different...I don’t think I have to prove anything. Look at me, I'm happy and I have a girlfriend. I just live my life". He has criticized the way trans people are portrayed on German TV, describing their appearances as "a little freaky, over the top or completely depressed". He stated, "I want to show the world that I’m just a normal guy who happens to be trans".

Personal life

Melzer's hobbies include

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

wakeboarding Wakeboarding is a water sport in which the rider, standing on a wakeboard (a board with foot bindings), is towed behind a motorboat across its wake and especially up off the crest in order to perform aerial maneuvers. A hallmark of wakeboarding ...

, and

cliff jumping Cliff jumping is the leaping off a cliff edge, usually into a body of water, as a form of sport. It may be done as part of the sport of coastal exploration or as a standalone activity. Particular variations on cliff jumping may specify the angle ...

. He lived in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, but more recently resides in

Recklinghausen Recklinghausen (; ) is the northernmost city in the Ruhr-Area and the capital of the Recklinghausen district. It borders the rural Münsterland and is characterized by large fields and farms in the north and industry in the south. Recklinghaus ...

. One of his goals is to make the modeling business more accessible to transgender models. He also expressed a desire to star in a

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...

commercial. He married German model Sissi Marie Melzer () in 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melzer, Benjamin 1987 births Living people People from Recklinghausen (district) German male models German male bloggers German LGBTQ models German LGBTQ rights activists German transgender men German transgender writers Transgender male models Transgender male writers Transgender rights activists Men's Health (magazine) LGBTQ bloggers 21st-century German male writers 21st-century German LGBTQ people

Biography

Gender transition

Personal life

See also

References