Yesterday we reported on trans bodybuilder Aydian Dowling’s ascent to the top of a competition to be the next Men’s Health ‘Ultimate Guy’cover model

Dowling told the Daily Beast in an interview and profile that he’s grateful for all the support:

“It’s been crazy and amazing. I definitely was not expecting all the support, but I’m so happy and proud of the community for using its loud voice and realizing that we really could do it. We’re banding together and this is us. We exist and we should be represented in some way in mainstream…It would be so affirming to just know that the man that I set out to be is somebody that people think is a good man…I’m feeling proud of our community coming together. This was just another competition, but our community said, ‘Hey, we’re taking this thing and we’re making it ours. We’re running with it. We’re gonna take it and turn it into something, because we want it to be something.’ I’m completely in awe and humbled by how much love and support I’ve gotten.””

Dowling has received 24,144 votes as of this posting, outrunning the nearest competitor by more than 16,000 votes. He made a video on Tuesday remarking on his progress (he was still #12 at that point) and rallying people to his cause.

Check it out, AFTER THE JUMP…