A man stuck by his childhood sweetheart when he came out as a trans man and proposed less than a month later. Now the couple are "happier than ever" and can’t wait to start a family together.
Elvis and Ryan Smith had met when they were just 12, when Elvis identified as female - using the name Elorah. Five years into their relationship, Elvis came out as a non-binary trans man.
To his surprise, Ryan was completely onboard. Less than a month later, Ryan proposed, the pair eloped and tied the knot in June 2021.
Elvis said he started to realise he might be transgender when he was 19, having always felt uncomfortable in a woman's body. He started his physical transition in March 2021 cutting his hair short and binding and packing daily.
He doesn't take any hormone treatment, due to an auto-immune disease, but hopes to be able to - as well as having surgery - in the future. The 23-year-old credits Ryan, 24, in helping him on his self-love journey and the couple now can’t wait to start a family together.
Elvis, an artist, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, US, said: “I was terrified Ryan would break up with me when I told him I was non-binary and transgender, but he was immediately supportive. The whole way through we’ve told each other, 'if this isn’t what you signed up for then it’s OK to leave.'
“But Ryan has stuck by me. We’ve had many tearful conversations because I know he once had the expectation of a bride in a dress, but he’s been so onboard.
“He helped me choose new clothes and picked a new name for me. He’s my rock and has unconditional love for me.”
Ryan, a nurse, said: "It’s been difficult at times. But we’re getting through it.
"We’ve always talked about having kids and when Elvis came out, it became a little more confusing as to what that would look like. The difference in style and appearance were difficult for me to adjust to at first.
"I’ve always viewed myself as straight and I was worried that I wouldn’t be attracted to someone who looked and dressed masculine. But Elvis is so much happier and more themselves now so that’s actually more attractive."
Elvis had a crush on Ryan from the moment he met him in August 2011. “We were in the same class together and I’d always tease him,” Elvis said.
The pair hit it off as friends and started dating after getting closer in September 2015. But when Elvis hit 19, he started to have some realisations about his identity.
“I’d see people on social media talking about transitioning and I’d think ‘I wish I was trans',” he said. “Then I realised that’s not something someone who isn’t transgender thinks.
“It made sense why I’d always wanted to dress like a tomboy and got on better with males. I was always in baggy jeans and dinosaur T-shirts growing up.”
Elvis was scared to tell Ryan in case it would mean the end of their relationship but bit the bullet in June 2019. "I wasn’t exactly sure at that point what being transgender meant for me, but I told him I was a non-binary transgender man,” he said.
“It was a very surface level conversation at first, but Ryan was immediately supportive.”
As Elvis started to understand more about himself, he continued to open up to Ryan about it. “We had lots of tearful chats and I made sure he was definitely on board before we got married,” Elvis said.
“He never signed up for a husband and we talked a lot about the future physical changes I wanted to make. But every time he was just supportive.”
Elvis started his physical transformation in March 2021 and cut his hair short. He now binds and packs every day and enforces interchangeable he/him and they/them pronouns.
“We struggle sometime with outside opinions on us, but we have unconditional love for each other,” Elvis said. “I’ve been on a huge self-love journey and Ryan has been a massive part of it.
“We’ve talked about me being a seahorse dad, surrogacy and adoption and it’s my dream to foster one day. When Ryan and I first started dating I’m not sure this is what he expected but we had to adjust our expectations and we’ve found that this relationship still works for us.”
