Las Cruces: Transgender woman united in spiritual matrimony with man
A ground-breaking wedding ceremony was held in Las cruces Saturday evening.
Eusabia Dominguez claims to be the city’s first openly transgender woman to be married to a man.
At first glance it seemed a traditional wedding with the bride walking nervously down the aisle and the groom seeing her in a beautiful wedding dress as the music plays.
But the bride in Saturday’s wedding was born a male which for many is far from traditional. The couple say it’s the new normal.
“It felt like this was the moment I wanted my whole life and it’s finally here and it was just really exiting and nervous,” Dominguez said.
At one point in Dominguez’s life she thought she would never see the day. She often felt no one would love her to the extent that she would wed in spiritual matrimony.
She says even as a young boy she wanted to be fabulous. At 17, she decided to break the mold and live her life as she wanted — as a woman.
“She’s gorgeous,” Gilbert said.
The two met in Phoenix several years ago. Both were at crossroads in their lives and at the time they felt they weren’t ready for a relationship. Several years later they met up and got back together.
“It’s been a roller coaster but we managed it and we took care of it,” Gilbert said.
All the hardship in the past faded away as they placed wedding rings on one another.
It’s a new normal for many.
UCLA estimates the country has 700,000 people who identify themselves as transgender. That’s about 0.3 percent of U.S. adults.
Last year, Facebook added more than 50 custom gender options for its users.
As for the couple, they tell ABC-7 the union has brought them closer and sealed their love.
“I feel pretty complete and secure where I’m at now. I found the person I want to be with and I’m happy,” Gilbert said.
dominguez tells ABC-7 she’s using this experience to help others like her.
She says she wants to open a community center for gay and transgender people
so they can be around people like themselves and be proud of who they are.
