The inspiring reason transgender man shares images of his taped back breasts online

A transgender man has shared an image of his taped down breasts to Instagram in a bid to celebrate the “beauty” of the physical transition of changing gender.

Born a girl called Sasha, Colter Alexander, 24, from Denver, always felt like he was born into the wrong body, but it wasn’t until he was 20 that he started identifying as a male.

“I made the change because the more I looked in the mirror, the more depressed I became. My life was at a standstill and I don’t do well stagnant,” Colter told Daily Mail.

“Since I was a kid, my brain has always yelled “male”, trapped in this weird bird cage that curves wrong. It was time I put myself first.”

Since then Colter has been using Instagram as a platform to document the changes in his body as he transitions from a woman into a man using hormone therapy.

It is a journey that has taken four years so far, but one of the procedures that Colter is yet to have is breast augmentation.

He is planning to have the procedure in the next few months, but in the meantime Colter uses duct tape to pin back his breasts in the hope of achieving a more masculine silhouette.

And he’s been sharing images of his taped breasts alongside inspiring captions to help let other members of the transgender community know that they are not alone.

“Change is always hard and different and confusing and frustrating, but most importantly, change takes time,” he wrote alongside one Instagram image.

“Give yourself the credit of making it as far as you’ve already come and trust that you’ll stay on a path you’re meant to be.”

Throughout his body journey Colter has bravely shared his ups and downs with his 2.7K followers.

“I feel more confident every day,” he explains. “My testosterone levels have been up and down over the last three years, but those hard times only made me stronger.”

And documenting his transition online has also helped him to learn the art of self-love.

“I’ve learned to love parts of myself I may have never discovered before. There’s a lot going on upstairs all the time but when you have to battle yourself every day, you learn, you learn a new appreciation for loving yourself.”

It seems to have a positive impact on his followers too.

“I get a lot of messages saying my little motivational messages help them get through the day,” he says.

“Or that seeing how I’ve been able to transform my life solidifies that they can also change theirs. It’s still weird to me because I’m just trying to blend in but people have been pretty positive.”

And the 24-year-old body positive advocate has a message for anyone going through a similar body journey.

“To anyone transitioning or thinking about transitioning; live your truest self. Put yourself first and worry about other people’s reactions later. You’ll learn who you want to have in your life.”

Colter isn’t the only transgender man to use social media as a positive way of documenting their transition. Musician Jaimie Wilson, who was born a woman but has now transitioned to a man, has been sharing beautiful before and after images of himself on Instagram in a bid to show that not all trans people exhibit signs of identifying with the opposite gender before they transition.

Sharing an image of himself as a women pre-transition and an image of him now, the musician explained that many people wouldn’t accept he was transgender at first because they perceived him as being too “feminine” for the first 18 years of his life.

“I am posting this picture to show that not everyone has to show “signs” to be transgender,” he wrote in the caption.

“You don’t have to pass a test to prove you’re trans…and you sure as hell don’t need ANYONES approval but your own. This life is about finding yourself and becoming YOU. No one’s journey is the same…so stop comparing yourself to others.”

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