I am a lesbian woman and my partner came out as a transgender man

A lesbian woman whose partner came out as a transgender man eight months into their relationship says they are “happier than ever” together.

Sierra Kai and Mitch James, both 19, met via TikTok in October 2021, while Mitch was posing as a lesbian woman.

After hitting it off, the couple moved to Roswell, New Mexico in March 2022.

Four months later, in July 2022, Mitch came out to Sierra as a transgender man, and the couple has since gone from strength to strength.

He came out after Sierra prompted him to think about his gender identity because he had “never thought about it before.”

Mitch, a retail worker from Roswell, New Mexico, said: ‘I was still trying to find myself and Sierra has always been very supportive.

“One day we were lying in bed and I had a feeling that I had to tell him.

‘I told him I think I’m a boy and that was it.

“I wasn’t really scared, I was just nervous. I never thought that she wouldn’t support me, I just wanted to make sure that she was making the right choice.

Sierra, a model, said: “When it came out, it took me a little while to get the pronouns right, but I just exaggerated ‘he’ and ‘his’ in my sentences and got used to it quickly.

“I think our relationship is pretty much the same,” said Sierra, who identifies as gender fluid and bisexual.

“Nothing has really changed, it’s almost connected us more because she had the courage to tell me and come out.” Now he is also more himself and we never argue.

The young couple fell in love since their initial FaceTime meeting in October 2021, after following each other on TikTok.

In November 2021, Sierra drove nine hours from her home in Show Low, Arizona to visit Mitch as his home in Roswell, New Mexico.

The couple immediately made their relationship official and have been inseparable ever since, recently celebrating their first anniversary.

Since then, they’ve amassed a massive following, with Sierra sharing TikToks with 4.8 million fans, while Mitch has an impressive 161,000 followers.

Since Mitch began transitioning, Sierra has been supporting him however she can, telling him he’s cute and reinforcing his gender identity when he’s feeling ‘low’.

She said: “Before Mitch approached me, I had asked him questions like ‘do you know who you are?’ and ‘have you ever thought about gender before?’

“It was interesting because when I first met his family they told me that Mitch would always cut his hair and dress like a boy, but Mitch wasn’t ready for the transition.

“She told me that she had never really thought about gender before because she had always been told it was a girl.”

Although the couple is completely safe and happy in their relationship, they receive a large amount of transphobic comments online.

Sierra said these people are “trying to get their 10 seconds of validation” online and makes sure to defend Mitch from hateful comments.

Some of his followers were confused when Mitch began the transition, but the couple set out to explain the situation and educate people on how transition works.

Despite receiving some nasty comments online, the couple focus on the “positive” comments and trust in each other’s support.

Mitch said: ‘Sierra’s support means the world to me. If I’m having a bad day, she knows my love language is physical contact, so she’ll hold me or hug me to help me out.

“She reminds me of the good things about myself and that I’m handsome, it makes me love her 10 times more.”