Laix Enriquez and Xylem Corpuz are both members of LGBT Pinoy. Xylem is one of the admins of the Facebook-based group, and Laix only joined in November 2013. They only started talking in February 2014, when we they were already friends in Facebook.
“At first I thought he’s a gay guy. I realized that he is actually a transman, and so I laughed at myself. I had this deep admiration for him right from the start; but at that time, he had a girlfriend. I didn’t even know that eventually became already single, but eventually I found out,” Laix recalled.
“Comment-comment lang sya sa mga post ko… at may post ako na ALL CAPS at nag-comment siya, tapos nag-message ako sa inbox niya na: ‘SORRY’. So ‘yun ‘yung start na nag-usap kami, tapos kinuha ko na number niya para tuloy tuloy usapan namin (She constantly commented on my posts. I had a post in ALL CAPS, and she sent me a message. I sent her a message saying ‘Sorry’, and then I asked for her number so that we can continue talking),” Xylem recalled.
It was when they continued to phone each other that Laix and Xylem started to fall in love.
“I knew I had fallen for Xylem when he called me for the second time last March 1 at 11:37AM while I was cooking lunch. There was something about his ‘I-just-literally-woke-up’ voice that changed me forever. As he spoke the words: ‘Boses bakla ako pag bagong gising noh (I sound like a gay guy when I have just woken up, right)?’, I just knew from how fast my heart was beating that right at that moment, I fell in love with him. It was at that instant that I wondered if he’d ever feel the same way,” Laix recalled.
“Nung nakakausap ko na sya noong March 1… ang saya niya kasi kausap eh, at hindi boring, tapos madami syang mga challenges sa buhay na kinukwento niya sa akin so nakikilala ko pagkatao niya nang dahan-dahan. Atsaka ang sweet niya kasi eh, kaya araw-araw na akong in-love (When I talked to her last March 1… she was fun to talk to, and she was not a bore. She already had many challenges in life that she shared with me, and with that I started to know her as a person slowly. She is also so sweet, that’s why every day, I felt more in love with her),” Xylem said.
The biggest challenge that Laix and Xylem face as a couple is the fact that people confuse them as a lesbian couple, which they are not.
“Yes I am a woman, and yes he’s a man stuck in the wrong body. But we never saw each other as simply as that. Society today is only beginning to understand and accept the gay community and they only see black and white when it comes to being queer. I am bisexual and Xylem is a transman, but they brand us ‘dykes’,” Laix said.
Laix and Xylem face this challenge by first being self-aware and enlightened.
“We discover who we really are and learn to love ourselves fully. We also educate ourselves with concepts about our being a bisexual and a trans since there are still things that we may not know about ourselves that others may already know. We then spread the knowledge and wisdom that we acquire from various sources through social media and by word of mouth and whatnot,” Laix added.
Despite the misconceptions that they face as a couple, Laix and Xylem continue to see the best aspects of being together.
“The best thing for me in this relationship is being with someone as strange to society as I am because we see eye to eye, we understand and accept each other without questions asked,” Laix said.
“The best thing ‘yung sinabi ko sa kanya na SANA SIYA NA KASI AYOKO NA SA IBA... Nakikita ko na kasi sarili ko na kasama siya in the future eh. Kahit napakaaga pa ng relasyon namin, pero ‘yan ‘yung gagawin ko para magtagal kami. Atsaka nagkakaintindihan kami. May tampuhan man kami, talagang pinag-uusapan namin para magkaintindihan lalo (The best thing was when I told her that I wish that she is the one because I don’t want anyone else… I see that she will be with me in the future. Even if our relationship is still new, I will do what I can so that we last. We also understand each other. We may have fights, but we talk it over to understand each other better),” Xylem said.
Laix and Xylem both look forward in building a future together.
“When the time is right, we would want to get married, legally if possible , and have a family of our own,” Laix said.
“Plan ko ang pakasalan si Laix at bumuo ng pamilya pag nag(tagal na kami ng) years,” Xylem ended.
