Against the norms

Aunjanue had been an openly Trans Woman in Miami Beach for the last three years. She had been far happier in that time. Her family had disowned her. They’d cut all forms of contact with her. She was dead to them. The only thing they’d say was that she’d made a few decisions that weren’t in her best interest. In their eyes anyway. They were deeply religious Catholics. To be Gay was grounds for sessions with a Priest to pray it away. To be Transgender was seen as Mentally Ill. She’d come to terms with their decision. She knew she was better off without them anyway. She had people in her life prior to and since her transition that love her for who she is. 

She’d sworn off dating after a while. She’d been fetishized far too often. She’d been in fear for life at other times. She didn’t mind as time went on. She wanted to focus on her transition a little more anyway. She’d realized just how much trauma she still had to work through. Trauma from her religious upbringing. Of the blood family that’d turned their backs on her when she needed them most. It’d been one thing to be a closeted Gay man. It was another thing to come out as Gay and go through what her family had put her through. It was an entirely new experience for them to have disowned her. It’d taken a toll on her for a while. She’d let that part of her life go. Their actions had spoken for them. She was going to let hers do the same. She was happy with the life she’d made for herself since they’d disowned her.

Sawyer changed everything. He’d been going through similar struggles as an openly Transgender Man. He’d left the town that’d never once loved him behind. He’d been homeless in Miami Beach when he got there. It’d been three months before he’d been able to find a job. The little money he had left by that point was nowhere near enough for anything other than being able to get the bare essentials along with paying for a bus pass to take public transit. They’d fallen in love with each other. They helped each other through their respective traumas. They’d seen life from a different perspective. They’d become Partners In Crime after a while. They let their love talk for them.

They’d helped move through everything far more than before over time. People saw the love they had for each other. They shared their story far more than before as a result. Both of them became outspoken about their individual stories. About their relationship. How it came to be. That it was serendipity that brought them together. They became Speakers as time went on. Their goal, individually and together, was to help others. In whatever way that looked like. To show others they’re out alone in the world. To lend a helping hand in whatever way that looked like for others.