Patrick Henry
strips down for our feature on the beauty and blemish of
the human body.
Patrick Henry,
40
Taos, N.M.
Likes: chest hair and
muscle
Dislikes: weight -- too skinny
Think puberty was
hard as a teenager? Imagine going through it at age 30.
“Doctors always said, ‘Well, different people
have different body types’ or ‘Maybe
you’re a late bloomer,’ ” says
40-year-old Patrick Henry, whose body didn’t
mature into adulthood until after 1998, when doctors found a
brain tumor that was preventing testosterone production. For
Henry, the revelation was a godsend. “It was
like the first time in history that a brain tumor has
been good news!” he says, laughing. Three months
after the tumor was successfully removed, he finally
began to pack on pounds and grow body hair, leaving
behind the skinny, hairless body that had made him
“miserable” for most of his life.
“People who knew me back then, some of them
don’t even recognize me now,” he says.
Though
he’d still like to put on more weight --
“Sometimes when I look in the mirror I still
see that skinny kid” -- Henry says he’s at
peace with his new body and his newly awakened
sexuality. “It was always very frustrating for
me because I didn’t have a sex drive,” he
says. “I actually thought I was supposed to be
straight!” Henry now competes in a gay rugby
league and recently attended the Bingham Cup in Dublin,
which he describes as “pretty much a wet dream
come true.” The sport has helped him achieve
the physique he’s always wanted. “Muscles are
nice, but there’s that dividing line between
guys who are muscular for show and guys who are
muscular in a practical sense,” he says. “I
don’t want pretty muscles to show off -- I want
more pounds to make me a better athlete.”
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Page 1 of 3
Profiles by Neal
Broverman, Kyle Buchanan, Japhy Grant