February 12, 2015
10 Trans Women
of Color In Love
In honor of Valentine’s Day, all week ELIXHER will be celebrating our love — our love of self and our love of other women of color who are trans, queer, and cis.
We joined forces with dynamic trans community leaders of color and grassroots groups to profile how beautiful and powerful love looks for 10 trans women of color. This piece would not exist without Ashley Love of Black Trans * Women’s Lives Matter, Bali White, Cherno Biko of We Happy Trans, L’lerrét Jazelle Ailith, Monica Roberts of TransGriot, and Olympia Perez and Sasha Alexander of Black Trans Media.
1. Olympia Perez and
Sasha Alexander,
Black Trans Media
“Sasha Alexander Perez is the love of my life. I never imagined I would feel this alignment with another human. We have a beautiful #blacktranseverything life. Together we organize Black Trans Media, hosting community events and creating art/media for justice. Many of my Black trans sisters are being killed. I celebrate my abundance of love for all of them who had or never knew #blacktransloveiswealth.”
2. Vanessa Victoria and Michael
“Love isn’t about finding the perfect person. It’s about seeing an imperfect person perfect and believing in something or someone without any reason. Fighting for one person and being unable to explain why you can’t give up! In each other, we have found love, friendship, and a family.”
3. Janet Mock and
Aaron Tredwell
“What I love about our love is that I have a partner who is as committed to and invested in my dreams as he is to his own and ours. We’re a team, a family, and best of all, friends. Also, I always have someone to eat ribs and fried chicken with and never feel guilty.”
4. Andy Marra (iamloveworthy.com)
and Drew Shives
“Drew and I lead busy, complex lives. He’s a line cook at Jean-Georges’ ABC Kitchen and I work in communications at the Arcus Foundation. He works 60 plus hours a week in a stressful and sweltering kitchen. Yet he somehow manages to put me first. That’s why I call him my gravity: he keeps me grounded in the present. But now, I’m excited to think about our future. Family and friends can expect to see us wed sometime in 2017. 여보 사랑해!”
5. Tanya Ballenger and
Omar Clarke
“I love Omar for his loyalty, respect, intelligence, partnership, and his love for God. I can’t imagine my life without him. He will forever be my Boobie and I will forever be his Sweet T.”
6. Ms. Kim and Cris
“I love our relationship because it is full of unconditional love and patience.”
7. Ruby Corado-Walker and
David Walker
“Love is love no matter where it is found. Dreams do come true! My whole life, I have been told that I was not supposed to love or be loved. I was not supposed to love myself because I was different (trans, indigenous, dark-haired, immigrant, HIV-positive, fat, short, you name it). I was made to believe that no one could love me back because I was different. [Our wedding] proved everyone wrong. Never stop dreaming; never stop believing because dreams do come true.”
8. Zoë and Megan
“To be honest, to tell the story of me and Megan is a dishonest tale. Not dishonest in the respect that our story or our love is fabricated, but dishonest in that our story is still being written. Every day, our story grows, our love grows, and the impact is infinite. As we grow independently every day, we grow together as a family, as two people who love each other unconditionally, without judgement, and always with open hearts.”
9. Octavia Y. Lewis, MPA and
Shawn E. Lopez
“We’re a married couple with a 18-month-old son named Ethan. Our relationship wasn’t a match made in heaven because we are still marching through hell. The hell is the fact that our marriage isn’t considered equal in all 50 states. We aren’t alloted equal protection throughout the great state of New York, but in spite of it all we have managed to live our authentic truth unapologetically. Who knows what the future holds but as long as we have each other the journey will be well worth it.”
10. Precious Davis and
Myles Brady
“Our love is a divinely ordained thing that manifests itself in care for each other, our community, and anything within our sphere of influence. Our love is based in self-care for one another. Our love is an old school love in which courting is an essential element. He pursued me for a year before I said, ‘Yes.’ I’m so glad I did.”
>via: http://elixher.com/10-trans-women-of-color-in-love/