Publications
Partners
- Elvis and Ryan Smith started as childhood sweethearts, and now they're happily married.
- When the pair first started dating, Elvis identified as female but came out as a trans non-binary person five years into their relationship.
- Instead of walking away out of fear, Ryan showered his partner with unconditional love and support.
Elvis Smith, 23, and his husband Ryan Smith, 24, were childhood sweethearts, having met when they were just 14.
When the couple first started dating, Elvis identified as female but five years into their relationship, he came out as a non-binary trans person who uses the pronouns he/they.
"I was terrified to come out to Ryan," he shares in an interview with SWNS. "Not because I didn't think he would accept me, but because I thought he would break up with me. Which would have been completely reasonable."
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But Ryan did not walk away, choosing to support his partner.
"I was like, hey; I'm transgender, I'm non-binary. I don't know what that looks like yet; I don't know what that means. Because I didn't have a lot of answers, he was just like, 'Oh, okay'," Elvis says.
"He surprised me. Not because I thought he'd be unsupportive, but because it was my first glimpse of such unconditional love and such a healthy relationship."
Not only did Ryan shower Elvis with unconditional love, but he also helped him pick out his new name.
"I wanted a completely different name; I wanted to start fresh and clean," Elvis explains. "We started talking about name changes, and he actually helped me pick the name, Elvis. I was like, I don't hate that."
Just a few weeks after Elvis came out to him, Ryan popped the question.
"This was when we started to talk about serious in-depth transition goals. He didn't want to hold me back with his preferences, and I didn't want anything to be a surprise. We wanted to make sure we cleared that before we got married."
The pair eloped in June 2019.
Elvis says the most difficult part of their initial conversations was the "not knowing".
"We had many tearful conversations. It was a difficult adjustment for him, partly because he had the whole bride in a white dress, walking down the aisle expectation to life," Elvis says.
"We both really wanted kids; it just became a conversation of how we were going to have them. We hope that's in store for us for the future, but that was also a difficult conversation we had to break down."
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Speaking to SWNS, Ryan said the journey was "difficult at times".
"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 started transitioning in March 2021.
Due to an auto-immune disease, hormone treatment is not possible at the moment. But treatment and top surgery are included in future plans.
