Dominic Scaia is a trans man who had a helluva time convincing Facebook that bare chested photos of himself were not X-rated, because after all, he no longer had breasts, and the exposed areolas belong to a post-op dude. Now he’s going through the same routine with YouTube.
In January Facebook deleted his post-op chest photos, only to apologize after public web outcry. And then the site did it again. Now it’s YouTube’s turn to feel the wrath.
Scaia tells Queerty YouTube deleted the video April 23; it had been online since mid-December and received some 40,000 views. The 27-year-old Canadian has been showing off his new look on the web in what we’d say is a pretty damn courageous share — and something tools like YouTube were built to do.
“I have been in transition for three years. Been on testosterone for over 2 years, and have had my breasts removed, and had a hysterectomy,” Scaia tells us. “I’m an activist for many issues. Anti racism/fascism, LGBT rights, anti-homophobia, anti transphobia, transgender rights. I am passionate about educating people about transgenderism/transsexuality in order to help people understand, and also to eliminate hate crimes and discrimination against trans individuals.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
About the video above, which was reinstated after bloggers at the website Bilerico Project reached out to YouTube:
At the time the video was taken, I was two and a half weeks post-op. My chest was bare, and I was wearing jeans. It wasn’t really gory, and most certainly contained no nudity, seeing as, I had no breasts anymore.. I had the chest reconstruction specifically to create a male chest, after all.
It was just me talking with my shirt off.. updating people on my recovery. I know 100’s of other transguys who have videos of their bare post-op chests on YouTube.
Yes, I’m a larger guy, and my chest is a bit puffy in the video, but my pecs are NOT breasts. All breast tissue was removed during the surgery.. so any fullness in it in the video is swelling or fatty tissue.
I had a lot of comments on the video from people who thought I was a male-to-female transsexual who just had a boob job and was showing it off.. and many of them said they were going to report the video.
A lot of time went by and the video wasn’t removed, and I was also offered a partnership by YouTube for that video, because it had so many views.. so I thought everything was okay and that the video wouldn’t be removed.
Note: A “partnership” means that YouTube sees the viral power of your videos and wants to earn cash (and share some with the video’s creator) by selling ads against it. They don’t offer these deals to content creators they want to censor.
Most bizarrely, says Scaia: “So far, they’ve only removed one of the videos where I show my chest – the one with the most views. There is actually another one on my youtube account that I would say is worse than the one they actually removed. In this video, I’m having my drains, bandages, nipple covers, and some stitches removed.. and having my chest re-bandaged and such. And yet the one of me just standing there talking was removed. … The bottom line here is that my chest, and the chest of the other guy who had his video removed, are male chests.. and since male chests aren’t considered nudity, they should be allowed on YouTube, no questions asked. Yes, mine contained some scabbing and such, but nothing overly gory.. and I have seen videos on YouTube of people popping their boils and squeezing the pus out, live births, people being beheaded, dead babies, actual surgeries IN PROGRESS, etc.”
terrwill
I think “gross” would be more appropriate!
Petrov
Please cover up those moobs, thank you.
thedarkchariot
Okay I totally support this and it’s beautiful that he’s going through this transition to become his real self, but I just can’t stand any sort of blood…so please excuse me while I cringe.
christopher di spirito
Facebook has lots of problems right now.
The guy who is the site content manager — he’s responsible for writing and enforcing policy as to what gets deleted and what doesn’t, is this straight guy who lives in Palo Alto, CA and he also happens to be running for California Attorney General.
While he is marketing himself as this Golden State liberal and pro-gay, the fact is, much gay male-themed content on Facebook is routinely deleted, and straight content — even naked pictures of female’s titties and pussies, is allowed to remain.
Draw your own conclusion.
Adrian
I think it’s time we get rid of the double standard of allowing men to show their bare chest but not allowing women to do the same.
Good for Scaia, showing off his chest.
Queerty is obsessed with Jarret Barrios. ZZZ. (John from England)
@christopher di spirito:
Well one of the Facebook founders is gay. What’s he doing now?
christopher di spirito
@Queerty is obsessed with Jarret Barrios. ZZZ. (John from England):
Excellent question and I wish I knew.
Terrence
“”I have been in transition for three years. Been on testosterone for over 2 years, and have had my breasts removed, and had a hysterectomy,””
This is an excellent illustration of how transgenderism is completely different and distinct from homosexuality. Read that statement. Do gay men want to get injected with hormones and have parts of their bodies removed? Of course not. In fact, we have had that done to us throughout history as a punishment (e.g., Alan Turing getting forced hormone therapy) and consider it an accomplishment that it has been abolished in the Western world. So why are we now linking ourselves to it via “LGBT”? LGBT not only makes no logical sense, it is profoundly insulting to all gay and lesbian people.
dvd
@ Terrence
I get your point, and that is something which isn’t “pc” or said often enough. If the T’s want to join us G&Ls, so be it. But it really is two different groups, and can often make it harder to G&Ls. ie, “No mom, I don’t dress in women’s clothing on the weekends and I don’t want to be a girl.”
But the G&L’s are open to anyone who has a struggle apart from being hetero, so I get it.
I feel the same with the B’s. You can have your own parade, but if you must be a part of ours, well okay. And again “No mom, my sexuality isn’t fluid and I don’t go back and forth and wont change my mind one day an be with someone of the opposite sex…”
Cat Walker
he/she is just another media whore who loves attention and schocking people.
missanthrope
Adrian:
“I think it’s time we get rid of the double standard of allowing men to show their bare chest but not allowing women to do the same.”
Word, that’s pretty much the point of issue here I think. It’s the stupid close-mindedness and double standards, not that he’s FTM or not.
And if people don’t wanna watch a FTM showing his post-op pics, then they shouldn’t watch videos of a FTM showing off post-op pics, it’s damn pretty simple.
@Terrence, your record of transphobia and disgust of trans people is well documented on this site, so I’m not gonna even talk to you.
@DVD: It’s not the fault of bi or trans people that there are clueless, stupid het people out there and get the GLB&T mixed up. If trans and bi people didn’t exist they would still be throwing all of those accusations (ie. “weird” practices) at you because they are quite simply ignorant of G&L people. People who want to put G&L people in a bad light will probably find any reason they want to do so.
-Someone who is trans & bi.
Andy
@Terrence: If LGBT was linked to ending child slavery, would you be offended by it? No, of course not. You just can’t stand that someone would think that you’re wanting to be the opposite gender.
And what if someone assumed you wanted to be of a different gender? Is there anything inherently wrong with being born into the wrong gender? No, so the problem is yours and those who would discriminate based on their ignorance.
Andy
@Petrov: @terrwill: You have someone who’s willing to share rather intimate details about their personal life and you’re just making childish comments? Where’s the solidarity?
alan brickman
another “fame bore” being gross to get attention…not the image gays want or need…..
drewbrown
I must admit it’s hard for me to reconcile these images of very serious surgery (this person also had a hysterectomy) as part of a healthy everyday expression of sexuality. Those of us solidly in the “G” or “L” category cannot presume to know what it feels like to be a “T” – or the deep-seated psychological and physical desires that these people decide can only be manifested through painful, costly surgical operations. I’m not “phobic” of the need to express one’s sexuality outwardly, but I’m definitely phobic of the severe means these people must go through to achieve that expression.
Terrence
@Andy:
I am not sure what you are asking me with that child slavery question. I am opposed to slavery of any kind. I am also opposed to piracy, human trafficking, the drug trade and terrorism. However, while these are all moral issues, none of them are gay issues and I wouldn’t start adding letters to the acronym to bring in anti-piracy and anti-slavery activists into one fake “community”. Same idea for trans issues. I actually support trans rights, but that doesn’t mean that we should transmogrify into some sort of fake hybrid called “LGBT”.
Also, the issue is not whether there is anything wrong with being born trans. The issue is that I am not trans and I get to define myself, not trans activists. Someone, not me, decided that I was “LGBT” and that is an attack on my personhood, even if there is nothing wrong with being trans. Consider: There is nothing wrong with being a woman, but if I called Dominic Scaia a woman, that would be considered an insult to him. Well, don’t insult me by calling me something I am not.
@DVD:
Thanks for the response. I would differ with you on bisexuals. Although it is not identical to gay, it makes logical sense for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals to be in one group. Why? Because we are all to one degree or another defined by our attraction to the same sex. That logic is completely missing with the T. It was just added by trans activists because it benefited them to latch onto a bigger, more established movement.
Alexander A.
Now, I wish Dominic the best of luck and everything, but I have to wonder… is that normal? I mean, at 2 1/2 weeks, that surgery still seems incredibly raw, not to mention un-even. I don’t pretend to be a doctor, nor am I transgendered, but I really hope he’s having frequent follow-up visits, because the just looks PAINFUL. Good luck, man.
Jadis
Well, another day of bash-the-trans on Queerty. Shocking! So your question about why us “transgenderists” (I assume you’re a “homosexualist”) are part of the LGBT, well back in the day when I was naïve and bright-eyed I would have said something like “solidarity,” or “I got called a faggot too” or some other appeal to coalition.
But that was back before I discovered the sheer level of animus, of resentment, of malice that it seems the majority of the GL harbour towards us. Our very existence is an affront, an offense. We make you look bad, bunch of crazy freaks that we are.
In fact, I have discovered a great deal more acceptance and understanding among straight people than I have had with you lot. Isn’t that sad? Cos I think so.
I think you are speaking out of a fear that you might have been mistakenly identified as trans as a youth, and been forced into some kind of transitioning gulag against your will, filled with hormones and transmogrified. Or alternatively, that you would somehow have come to the conclusion on your own and Done Something You Would Regret.
Well I am happy to report that there is no way this will happen. You’ve got nothing to worry about. The thing you’re missing here is the fact that not only is transitioning voluntary, it takes about as much effort as becoming an astronaut and you have to be pretty single-minded and dedicated about it. They don’t make it easy.
So there you go. As to painful, well I get migraine headaches and the surgery was a walk in the park by comparison.
Andy
@drewbrown: You don’t get it. Imagine being in the body of opposite of what you were born in and presumably feel comfortable.
I’m not trans, but how hard is this to understand?
Andy
@Terrence: As a masculine man, I do laugh at the idea that gay is merely a sexual orientation. If it were, you’d have as many effeminate heterosexual men as are gay. It’s not even close.
A lot of gay men aren’t comfortable with who they are so to preserve their fragile identities, they must get rid of people that are different, be it bisexuals or trans. I don’t know if that’s the issue with you, but trying to separate gay and trans is selfish.
Jimmi
I applaud him and support him in his transition. For so long, many trans people have hidden and lived lives of secrecy. Go Dominic!
John Raymond Barker
I support him and his right to document his transition 100%. There IS a double standard with regards to topless images of men and women. Regardless, those are not boobs. They are for lack of a better term moobs. If moobs are ok on YouTube, then his showing his chest is not an issue.
Terrence
@Andy:
Gay is a sexual orientation and it is irrelevant whether a few, some, many, or most gay men are “effeminate”. It might also be true that there are more gay hairdressers than straight hairdressers but that doesn’t mean that the definition of “gay” incorporates hairdressers or that we are the GLBH community. What makes gay people gay is not their degree of effeminacy or masculinity, but rather their attraction to their own sex.
My identity is no more fragile than that of a trans person who insists on being addressed in his or her own chosen gender. It is no more fragile than a straight person who objects to being falsely identified as gay or a light-skinned African American being falsely identified as white. In none of these cases is there any “hatred” of anyone. People have the right to define themselves and not to be defined by others for political purposes. There is no such thing as LGBT and I don’t appreciate being called that.
Tackle
First off, happy belated 17th birthday to a very brave young man. I wish him well in his transition. And many of us gays DO support or trans brothers and sisters.
@14 Alan Brickman: I find you to be more “gross” than him.
Here you are attacking a 17-year-old who is not doing any harm to you. Yet in the morning goods section, giving support and praise and gloating over what you consider the beautiful eye candy. And with your silly phrase, “Don’t be jealous.”
Well Alan, the same way that you view this 17-year-old (gross) is the same way most of the morning goods models will view you.
samthor
@Terrence:
Yes there are differences, but we are stronger if we work together.
As far as the video… the scars underneath make them look like boobs, so probably most ppl will see them as boobs.
Mr.ManBoob
I have boobs like that and I’m no pre-op!
Lincoln Rose
@Alexander A.:
Alexander, I have to agree a bit. As a post-chest op transguy myself, he’s still looking really raw, especially around the aerolie. (sp?)
But, this vid was taken kind of early. It can take up to a year at times for things to “even out” depending on who the surgeon was and how his body handles the healing process.
jeffrey
The actual issue at play in this thread is YouTube’s censorship & standards. Why was Dominic’s video censored? i personally don’t want to watch the aftereffects of ANY surgery, regardless if it’s sex reassignment or not (sorry, Aunt Clara, but seeing the scars & hardware from your February hip replacement doesn’t mesh with my breakfast plans !)
Since I don’t want to see that, I don’t seek out or watch those kind of videos.
Somebody else — a future surgeon, a surgery candidate or a scar fetish person, etc — might want to view that video. I don’t see any reason they shouldnt be allowed to.
This boils down to censorship. No genitalia are exposed. No minor is being exploited, no laws broken, no violence shown.
The question of where (or if) the T fits into LGBTQIA is interesting, but that’s not what is at stake in Dominic’s current battle with You Tube.
DEREK WASHINGTON
I think it’s actually important for folks (straight as well as LGBT) see a true story of what goes on when one makes the journey to who they really are. I also think if LOGO was halfway decent they would have a reality show about this very subject. But, there’s no twinks or A-List fags so…..
Ben
Oh joy, more anti-trans gay trolls. As a trans man who passes perfectly, bare-chested or not, I wish you people would get out of my movement. I work with queers, fags, gays, bisexuals, lesbians, butches, femmes, tops, bottoms, drag queens, and all sorts of other people who don’t get their panties in a bundle about having my interests attached to a movement that also furthers their interests.
The intellectual and moral bankruptcy of you people never ceases to amaze me. You are, by definition, part of a movement which, by definition, requires the aid of straight allies to further your own interests. In other words, in order to get anything accomplished for G and L people, you have to convince straight people that it is somehow in their interests to fight for the rights of other people, with whom they may or may not have anything in common.
And yet you are too stupid and/or too selfish to extend the same courtesy to transgender people. You are either blind or ignorant of the sheer hypocrisy required to deny the same sort of selfless consideration of trans people that you don’t hesitate to demand from straight people. Either self-centered bigotry is wrong, or it isn’t. Either rights and respect are universal, or they aren’t.
You undermine not just yourselves, but the entire LGBT movement… which you do not own, by the way… when you show yourselves to be intellectually bankrupt cowards like this.
Dominic Scaia
It never ceases to amaze me, just how transphobic, immature, and just downright ignorant the gay and lesbian readers of queerty are.
You people are doing the same thing to the trans community that happens to you.. that you hate.. that you fight against. This makes you a bunch of hypocrites.
Hi, remember us? We’re the ‘T’ on the end of the queer alphabet.
We fight right alongside you when it comes to YOUR rights. Why is it so goddamn hard to do the same for us?
jeffree
@Ben: Thank you for your kind words about my post. Who were you referring to as “you people”? All prior commenters? Are you implying we all think alike?
Note : the expression “you people” is used almost excluseivly by internet trolls, who barge in, scream, rant, and never come back again.
terrwill
The pic makes me want to barf!
Zaniell
Terrence et al. — the hatred in their comments isn’t caused by transphobia, but, I believe, by Misogyny–hatred of women. You really wish all women or female-bodied’d go off the face of Earth, aren’t you? :]]
They hate MTF transsexuals cause they want to be women. They hate FTMs cause those were born with female bodies and gays like Terrence see them trying to infiltrate their male world, that’s why such intense hatred. These gays mostly are insecure and fear themselves becoming effeminate.
They try to twist things and go as far as to suggest that existance of transpeople would, somehow, cause gays to be forced to receive hormonal treatments. These people should get back on Risperidal or whatever psycho junk they’re prescribed, methinks.
Don’t like FTM vids? Don’t watch them. Terrence at al. remind me of right wing Republicans who watch gay vids then bitch how gross it is. Sorry, Terrence, you can’t make yourself more of a man by attacking FTMs, instead I suggest you get a T prescription, that might rejuvenate the shrunken stuff, ya know?
Trans people do belong with LGBT. Most transpeople are attracted to people whose sex is the same as of their own genetic, biological body. That’s why transpeople had been viewed as gay people for a long time by medical community (not anymore, though). Any way you look at it, straight transpople is a myth. I believe also that Androgynes–people who defy gender binary and carry androgyny should be included in LGBT as well as Intersex people. Bitter, hateful gays who try to cut T out of LGBT–you’re so OLD and sorry those twinks aren’t calling you back anymore. Luckily, I live in one of the largest US cities where I find truly inclusive and accepting LGBT-Androgyne-Intersex community of young, non-prejudiced, non-bitter, ethusiastic and warm people.
Zaniell
LOL @ gay trolls hating on transsexuals. Must be hard to fight that urge to put on that dress?
Zaniell
LOL @ gay trolls hating on transsexuals. Must be hard to fight an urge to put on that dress?