Portrait of a Couple: “Jonah and Deejay”

About Jonah and Deejay

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Jonah and Deejay met in a nightclub in Las Vegas, where Deejay was taking photographs. As a not-so-tall transgender man, Deejay is used to drag queens towering over him. But when Jonah, aka Alei’aloha Savage, walked by, Deejay was struck by his beauty, small stature, and the fact that he had a turtle tattoo on his shoulder, indicating that he was Hawaiian. As Deejay describes him, “Jonah happens to be small and very pretty. He looks like a woman. I happen to like female energy, but I still favor another man.” Jonah, who works in the postal service by day, is a stunningly convincing drag performer or female illusionist raised in the drag house of Tracy Savage. He is passionate about this as an art form, expressing himself through movement and music. Deejay says Jonah is usually very chill, reserved, and sometimes shy, but his girl persona is a firecracker, high energy and beautiful. They had not intended to start a family, but fate had other plans. Many transgender men and women often struggle to afford health insurance and/or hormone treatments. Not only could Deejay not afford any gender-affirming surgeries, but life circumstances also forced him to be off his hormones for five years, during which he and Jonah began dating. After celebrating their birthdays, which were just eight days apart, they found themselves pregnant with a daughter, Anuhea. Jonah had always wanted to be a father since he was very young. With a baby on the way, he felt God had truly bested him with a partner who loved him as much as he loved them, and now a child. A biological child is a rare opportunity for many LGBTQ+ couples, and Jonah and Deejay decided to see the pregnancy through. For this transgender man, carrying a baby was psychologically and physically challenging. Deejay did not even want to be referred to as being pregnant. He preferred being the incubator for the baby. Like many trans men, he had been binding his breasts, but once they began to grow, he could no longer wear the binders. He says he was used to being muscular and agile, then all of a sudden, well, I can just waddle. I went from being the hot guy to being the fat guy. Jonah and Deejay have a daughter whom they adore. They are raising her to be blind, to see everybody and love everybody. Deejay says, “If she were to meet the president, no matter how much I don’t like him, I would still want her to share half of her cookie with him.” Jonah says, “People should know that we’re no different than anybody else. We work nine to five, come home, have our family time. We made a child. I’m not any different than any Tom, Dick, or Harry who has kids. We might not be what you picture the white picket fence, but this is my white picket fence. You have a dream to be a police officer. I have a dream to be the next drag superstar. But who am I to judge you? So, who are you to judge me?”

This work is on view in One World: Photographs of a Shared Planet.