Trans Teens Fall in Love, Transition Together, Live Happily Ever After

Katie used to be Luke and Arin used to be Emerald and recently the two found each other and are living happily ever after. While it’s not the traditional story of teen love found in the Young Adult section of Barnes and Noble, it’s the story of two teens from Oklahoma who met at a support group for transgender teenagers.

“They bonded through their shared experiences,” reports The Sun of the couple. Sort of the way teens and people of all ages do! Though an article was written about Katie and Arin in the Daily Mail in November, the pair have been recently been doing lots of interviews; in Arin’s words, he wants to ” inform and educate as many as possible [about being transgender] so that people will be treated equally no matter what.” He has a Facebook page “for those people who want to know more info and just want to talk or ask questions”; on it, he praises a video discussion on HuffPostLive about his story with Katie, during which the hosts explain things like how being transgender does not necessarily mean that you are gay.

Honestly, this story is so sweet and normal it’s almost mundane – except for how difficult their childhoods were. In a very touching 20/20 interview, Katie and Arin joke about switching body parts and reveal that they both attempted suicide when they were younger. Though Arin’s mother “had to mourn the loss of her little girl” (his words), both their mothers seem incredibly supportive now and actually encouraged the pair to get together in the first place. Said Katie’s mom:

Who in the world would understand more of what she’s feeling and what she’s gone through than a boy that’s going through the same thing she’s going through?

Relatedly, BuzzFeed also has a good post called “Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Transgender People But Were Afraid To Ask” that is the kind of thing you might want to send to your grandmother when your cousin announces she’s no longer Bob but Brenda.