Culture

Over 10 Years, Original Plumbing Made Space and Broke Barriers for Trans Men


There was almost nothing like Original Plumbing when it first arrived in 2009. Founded by co-editors Amos Mac and Rocco Kayiatos, Original Plumbing started in the Bay Area as a cheeky zine celebrating trans men, one that quickly grew to include deeper conversations. Its first issue, with the theme “Bedroom,” sold out before it was even published — but Mac and Kayiatos were still unsure how their magazine would fare when they started. It would go on to become a nationally beloved quarterly publication, one that created space for trans men in the media at a time when they were not just underrepresented, but practically invisible.

As publication continued with issues like “Hair,” “Health and Safer Sex, and “The Jock Issue,” Original Plumbing hosted progressive conversations, smart feature writing, and interviews with the likes of Janet Mock, Ian Harvie, and Margaret Cho. Kayiatos, who started his transition in 2000, recalls the difficulty in finding stories of trans men to relate to at the time. “That was kind of the dark ages for trans people and there wasn’t much in the way of visibility at all,” he said. “Loren Cameron’s book Body Alchemy was kind of it for me, [along with] these dated websites that you had to get an admin-approved login to see these disembodied pictures of surgery.” Kayiatos hopes those who found Original Plumbing were able to have a different experience, and that the publication served as a lighthouse for people who previously may have found themselves in the dark.

Mac and Kayiatos decided early on that their magazine would have a limited run: 20 issues. Their final issue was released earlier this year, and this week, a compilation book featuring selections from every issue, Original Plumbing: The Best of Ten Years of Trans Male Culture, arrived from Feminist Press. Below, them. spoke to founders Amos Mac and Rocco Kayiatos about the new book, Original Plumbing’s legacy, the Instagram generation, and more.

Why did you want to produce a 10-year anniversary book of Original Plumbing?

Amos Mac: After publishing for about a year, we checked in with each other and figured out how long to keep going. It’s hard to sustain an independently published magazine we were distributing ourselves, and we decided 20 issues would be a good time to stop. We always wanted it to be a book. I was having a conversation with Michelle Tea, who started Amethyst Editions, which is an imprint of Feminist Press. I casually said I wish OP could be book and she was excited. It was perfect timing. It just so happened after 10 years, our 20th and final issue was coming out. Rocco and I went through every issue and flagged interesting moments from the past decade. It was hard to not include everything. We had to make sure people who made the work wanted to be included as well. But even if it’s not in the book, you’re part of the original issues. I’m trying to go to as many library collections as possible to give them a complete set.

Rocco Kayiatos: When Amos and I started, we didn’t know how this would go over. In general, OP was a pretty blessed and magical experience. The first issue sold out before we even printed it. We set all of our intentions for the first year, things both grandiose and achievable. Everything came to fruition. It felt like we were doing what we were supposed to do. We wanted it to be not just a local scene but have a global impact, and we definitely saw that with subscriptions and orders.



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