This gym provides a safe and comfortable environment for trans men to work out
Transfit in Bangkok, Thailand, is one of the few gyms in the world to be owned and fully staffed by trans men.
27-year-old Jyb, whose full name is Phanyapad Maha-Udomporn, founded the gym, which carries the slogan: “Not only men gain muscles”.
A trans male model and fitness instructor, Jyb hopes to share his training knowledge with others who were assigned female at birth.
“I opened the gym because I wanted to help tomboys and trans men to have nice bodies,” Jyb told Mashable.
“A tom is a woman who dresses like a guy, cuts her hair like a guy and goes out with girls,” he added.
Speaking to PRI, Jyb revealed that some trans men and butch women felt uncomfortable in mixed gender gyms.
The workout facility currently has a small membership of around 15 people. “We mostly train people one-to-one in private sessions, so we don’t have too many,” Jyb explained.
Thailand is famous for having a large and vibrant LGBT community, particularly trans and gender non-conforming people. It allows trans people to change their legal gender, but does not currently allow same-sex marriage.
“In Thailand, acceptance for trans people has really shot up in the last five years,” Jyb told PRI, adding, “Of course, you have old-fashioned thinkers who still say it’s wrong. But very few people from the young generation think this way.”
A photo posted by @tom actz magazine (@atomactz) on Dec 8, 2015 at 7:03am PST
Last year Jyb was the cover model for Thai magazine Tom Actz, which is dedicated to LGBTQ issues, with a focus on the butch community and tomboy scene.
Jyb is hoping to eventually open another Transfit gym in Thailand and is also saving up to expand to other countries in the region.
