Introducing Tru Edwards (on the left) and Noemi Saafyr (on the right).
Important facts about Tru:
Loves puzzles. Knows how to do dope dreadlocks. Believes that healthy foods can carry our whole body, mind and soul.
Important facts about Saafyr:
She’s an ASL interpreter. Just conquered her yellow belt at Shaolin Kempo Karate. Loves Aladdin.
Noemi Saafyr Paz, 31 years old, is a half Jamaican, half Puerto Rican soul who was born and raised in New England. She started figuring out her queerness at a young age, around 12 or 13, but stayed closeted for a long time.
Her coming out story is complex. Her mother didn’t accept her at all, and to this day she still has a hard time welcoming her. In Saafyr’s own words, “she’s not against me but she’s also not happy for me. She doesn’t care”.
Saafyr is also a survivor of sexual abuse, which, among other motives, led her to emancipate herself from her parents at the age of 17. On her journey as a young woman figuring out life on her own, she decided to legally change her name and exclude her father’s last name, while incorporating Saafyr (the crystal stone) as her official middle name.
In her family, she feels like she’s a black sheep in the angle of being queer, afro-latina, very artistic and expressive, exhibitionist, comfortable in showing her body etc. But throughout the years, she dived into a deep and crucial self love journey, which allowed her to cross passed toxic relationships, look into her traumas and fears, set her personal boundaries and finally be ready for healthy, conscious, respectful connections.
Saafyr also mentioned how important it was for her to meet the Survivor Theatre Project right after college, which she joined and is only leaving now after 8 years. But she’s still focused on taking care of her spiritual and mental growth, and that’s why she’s always busy between her martial arts classes, meditation, music, drama therapy and anything that makes her feel well and grounded.
Tru Edwards, 27 years old, is the youngest of 4 siblings. She has an interesting - and sadly rare - coming out story. She came out as a lesbian to family and friends on her 14th birthday party, and overall she had a good experience.
In her own words, “my mom has always been loving. She just had a little bit of trouble accepting me in terms of the way I dress, more masculine presenting. I was raised with my grandmother and my mom, so that was the main thing. They used to question ‘do you want to be a man’ and I would always say ‘no, I love my body, I love being a woman, I just like to present as more androgynous like’. With time they kind of wrapped their heads around it”.
Nowadays, Tru feels welcomed by her circle of friends and family. She’s also polyamorous and just open to loving people. When she met Saafyr, she was actually flirting with someone else at a party when Saafyr just walked into the room and introduced herself. Right there she got her.
Because of her family background, for not feeling a sense of belonging, honor, respect and open communication, Saafyr has always been pretty territorial and protective of the people around her, so as a monogamous person it was challenging at first to be in love with someone like Tru. They went through some rocky times in their relationship until they got to a beautiful place halfway. In Saafyr’s words, “I’m open to understanding that my partner needs to be happy too and I’m open to the idea of expanding what pleasure can look like for each person individually”.
Both Tru and Saafyr believe that if people aren’t secure in themselves, it doesn’t matter if they’re in a monogamous or open relationship. What people need in first place is to have a lot of self care, so they don’t project all of their fears, traumas and expectations into someone else.
For Tru, it’s very important to distinguish your desires from your needs and have non-negotiable boundaries. It’s also substantial to challenge the cycles in which your family raised you, sit down and think it through, see if it’s healthy, if it makes sense to you and your life.
Now I, Raíra, have to say, meeting them and watching their bond made me agree 100% with Saafyr when she says the universe wants them together. It’s beautiful, it’s strong, it’s powerful to see two individuals who are grounded and happy on their own and glowing even more together.
Cheers to Tru and Saafyr and cheers to conscious love!
(This post is part of a bigger series called LGBTQIA+plural. To understand the projet, click here. To see the full photo gallery, click here).
