Iconic boxing goods manufacturer Everlast features trans boxer Patricio Manuel in its new ‘Be First’ advertising campaign.
Manuel, 34, from California, is the first trans man professional boxer in the world.
Manuel competed against women up until 2012, including Olympic tryouts. A shoulder injury prompted him to take a break from the sport, and during this time he decided to begin his transition.
Related: Meet the first trans man to model for an Andrew Christian
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.
He competed in his first bout against a man in 2016. He made his professional debut in December 2018, when he defeated Mexican super-featherweight Hugo Aguilar.
In the advert, Manuel says, “When I was a little kid, I always thought of myself as a boy. But you learn really early on that someone like me is immediately going to be told they’re a girl, so I learned to be quiet. I learned to stifle that part of me.
“But the thing is, anything you push down long enough, it will have a bad reaction, and that reaction for me was a complete disconnect from myself.
“I just mentally checked out so that I could continue coping through life. And it was boxing that brought me back into my body and it was boxing that allowed me to be proud of, actually, what I was physically able to do.
“But boxing also taught me to be really introspective and be like, ‘What do I really want? And how am I going to have to work for it?’ Because unfortunately, when you deviate from the norms that society has constructed, you have to fight for that identity. You have to really make it yourself.
Manuel says many people he knew in boxing were incredulous of his decision to transition when he had previously enjoyed great success in the women’s sport.
“They would come to me and say ‘You could have been one of the greatest female world champions … you would throw it all away to be yourself?’ and I tell them, that’s how bad I felt living that lie if it meant that much to me to risk the love of my life: Boxing.
“And then they knew it was something valid. No-one just throws away a possible chance at going to [the] Olympics or being a world champion. Living in your truth is gonna hurt but it’s worth it.
He goes on to talk about the importance of being yourself – offering words queer people everywhere will identify with.
“I want to live in a world where being yourself isn’t seen as this courageous act. I want all of us to be who we are and to be unafraid and not to have to deal with every obstacle just to be our true authentic self.
“So many of us are being forced into these restrictive boxes of identification but very few of us actually fit, and I want to see all of us be celebrated when we fight against those specific restrictive norms.
“I’m the first professional male boxer who is transgender. I may be the first but I’m not the last.”
Related: Father teaches trans son to shave in moving ad for Gillette
Manuel follows in the footsteps of Jack Dempsey and Sugar Ray Robinson in being the face of Everlast.
The sportswear label is not the first major brand to use a trans man for a marketing campaign. Earlier this year, razor and grooming brand Gilette used a trans man for a shaving commercial that went viral on social media.
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
From the article: ““I’m the first professional male boxer who is transgender.”
Wow. Its time for me to just accept that ten years ago the world began spinning at speeds so fast I simply didn’t realize what was going on and now I have woken up and no longer recognize it nor society itself. First the invasion of the church and its interpretation of the bible and marriage, next the redefinition of what a family is followed by the redefining of a high school home coming queen. And now the inevitable redefining of professional sports players. The world has changed and I’m not so sure I am going to be able to change with it or should I say accept everything that for some reason had to take priority. The older I get the more I am beginning to see how people felt once they realized that their institutions had to change or else regardless of how they felt about it. I watch MMA fights on cable but for the most part I channel surf when the women come on because I see it as unlady like but THIS is a bit too much for this old girl to absorb. Is there not anything sacred to other people that we can’t leave as is or once we have invaded it we have to take that victory lap while screaming “we’re queer and we are here?
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Hey old girl, you DO need to check and realize and acknowledge some people are simply born into the wrong bodies. I was ambivalent about FTM trans til I saw a special on a 16 year old trans boy. You can see in pictures of him as a little girl he was miserable. Luckily his Mom was understanding and allowed him to go on meds to prevent him from going through female puberty. The special shows a perfectly normal,well adjusted kid so proud to show the begining of hair on chest and his happy trail….
Search “Chris Mari trans teen” to view. And am sorry but if ya don’t have anything positive to say it’s best to not join the right wing nutbag smcubags and stay silent…..
thisisnotreal
@plays well…honey YOUR what’s wrong with our community and the younger generations not her. So sick of all the queens and social justice warriors who automatically brand anything that dares to disagree with the gay borg collective to be either a nasty republican or something that needs to be cancelled and attacked relentlessly. People are ALLOWED to not like whatever the hell hey want to in this world as long as them not liking those things doesn’t infringe on anyone’s personal rights and well being. You soft special snowflakes REALLY need to learn to better handle it when people don’t agree with the hive mind mentality and dare to disagree. Our society is failing because of people like you who simply cannot function when faced with opposition or differing opinions from yours and instead of being open to conflicting opinions and beliefs from your own you immediately go into full blown panic mode and get “triggered” when your perfect little world is shattered. News flash honey, the world is FULL of people who won’t like you, won’t agree with you, and will have different beliefs and stances and morals than you do, that DOESNT make them the enemy or a republican by default. And for that matter even if they are republican they aren’t automatically the enemy just because you don’t believe what they believe. your going to spend a very long time with your eyes closed once you die, so practice keeping them open while your still alive and stop shutting everything down you can’t handle.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
thisisnotreal;. You be needing to simmer down sweetie. Sounds like ya gotta bucket full of sand in your vagina….
All I stated was there shouldn’t be shots fired from within our community. The right wing pukes attack us every day. The old adage “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything” kinda applies….
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
@Plays well with others…….Two years ago there was an article on here about a 9 year old who identified as trans and even featured a pic of him with dyed purple hair and an obvious Miss Thing pose to boot. At nine years old he was a little woman and it showed. Do you think it was ok for a NINE year old who probably hadn’t even begun to grow pubic hair at the time of that article to be allowed to declare what he wanted to spend the rest of his life as get the publicity he sought from the community? Keep in mind he had yet to be introduced to the horrors of junior high let alone the wars of senior high. I think I already know the answer to that question but please answer it. As for the boxer it doesn’t the thought that this person is still angry or may have anger problems or some other inner turmoil based on the profession they chose? The last I heard you must develop a killers mentality in order to survive in a world where the idea is to knock out your opponent, or maybe I got it wrong. Imagine the mentality of his opponent once they step into the ring and what he must do in order to keep that from happening. Keep in mind now we’ve already had a high school member of our community join the “lets go postal” community in Colorado earlier this year and ended up killing one student and possibly traumatizing the rest of that class for the rest of their lives but I guess it was ok for him to do that too in your mind set because he was being ridiculed for his choice of dress and appearance that for arguments sake I won’t go into. Starting around this time last year I really began to wonder was there anything that went against the norms of society that many of you on here wouldn’t support. I think the answer
Davidsas
Handsome guys with big dicks want sex here and now. Look here 707gay.com
Kangol2
Congrats, Patricio Manuel. The queens regularly criticizing you probably also would not dare step into the ring with you!
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
Her skills are not to be taken lightly. But thats not what worries me about her. Its her skills and the TYPE of sport that has me looking down the road and not being able to accept what I know is going to happen. You see, when you beat a MAN and start rising in the ranks of boxing you become a target from all sides. I see a side bet on a fight where he is going to…….you know what, I’m not going to go there. Its a shame you proved YOUR cowardice and I’ll leave it at that.