Original Plumbing also known as OP is a quarterly magazine focused on "the culture and lifestyle of transgender men." The magazine was started in September 2009 in the San Francisco Bay Area, by editors-in-chiefAmos Mac and Rocco Kayiatos. The magazine is now published and distributed from Los Angeles, California. Mac and Kayiatos created Original Plumbing to bring visibility to the trans male community. At the time of the magazine's conception, trans men received little to no representation on TV, in mainstream film, or in other “LGB”-focused magazines. It is the aim of Original Plumbing to represent "true diversity in the female-to-male trans community; in size, age, body, surgery, hormone use and non-use." Original Plumbing is the first magazine for trans men made by trans men. Original Plumbing's first issue, with the theme “Bedroom,” sold out before it was even published in 2009 — but Mac and Kayiatos were still unsure how their magazine would fare when they started. According to 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. 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."
Meaning
The magazine's name refers to the term "original plumbing" as used by transgender people in Craigslistpersonal ads to indicate they have not had sex reassignment surgery. According to Mac, "It is our belief that surgery and hormones don’t necessarily make the man… It’s more than just that. Maybe it’s an attitude, a swagger, a limp wrist, or just an awareness of ones self. Needless to say, there is not just one way to be a trans man."
Content
Original Plumbing content includes advice, essays, interviews, and erotic/pornographic stories and photographs. OP was influenced by teen magazine aesthetics, vintage physique pictorials, and magazines like BUTT, Straight To Hell, and PhysiquePictorial. As founding editor and creative director of this project, Mac has photographed the majority of the content within Original Plumbing. Each issue is theme based and limited edition. The magazine is 8" x 10.5" when opened, with a page count of between 52 and 96 pages.
