“She loves me for me”: This small town trans man proposed to his wife at an Easter egg hunt

"I hope people can see our story and feel the confidence to be themselves."

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In the small town of Neenah, along the banks of Lake Winnebago in rural Wisconsin, Pride was alive and thriving one night last year when Jesse Moore and his wife, Joline, attended their first Trans Day of Visibility celebration together.

Their picture captures the moment.

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“She loves me for me”: This small town trans man proposed to his wife at an Easter egg hunt

“I want to show people what true love is, and if they love you, they will always support you and stand by your side,” Jesse tells LGBTQ Nation of Joline. “This world is a scary place for the LGBTQ community right now, and I want to stand up and share my pride with the world.”

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The small-town event was put on by Hate Free Outagamie, a grassroots LGBTQ+ coalition in the area that advocates for inclusivity and transgender rights.

“Neenah is a small town with all the benefits of a small town, but despite its size, there is still a great queer community here,” Jesse says.

The couple met online about 20 years ago — “on MySpace!” Jesse exclaims — when Joline “messaged me and told me I was cute. We chatted online, via video calls on AOL, and on the phone for a few weeks before meeting in person.”

It wasn’t long before a proposal, in the form of an Easter egg hunt for Joline.

“We had talked about it together and knew we wanted to get married, but I used one of those crayons to write ‘Will you marry me?’ while dying eggs with my family.”

The colorful question earned an immediate “yes” from Joline.

Several years later, Jesse announced his transition.

“I had always been more masculine presenting, but she had no clue,” Jesse says. “I was so scared and nervous. My fears were that she loved women, and also the reaction from her side of the family.”

But Jesse’s honesty — which he calls “the true foundation of a relationship” — paid off. Joline’s surprise was overwhelmed by the same quality that she’d always provided her husband: her support.

“I was surprised,” Joline says. “He had always dressed more ‘butch,’ but I had no idea. However, I have always said that I am attracted to someone for who they are, not because of what sex they are.”

“She loves me for me,” Jesse adds.

And like him, Joline can now see the man that Jesse “was always meant to be.”

“Jesse is my home,” says Joline. “We have been together for almost 20 years, and I cannot imagine my life without him.”

“It is currently a scary time for a lot of people in the U.S., especially for those in our community,” she says. “I hope people can see our story and feel the confidence to be themselves. There is a community here of amazing people that deserve the same rights as anyone else.”

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