Transgender couple have stayed together through good times and bad
By KRISTIN BUEHNER, Of The Globe Gazette


CHARLES CITY — They have withstood hurtful gossip, rocks thrown through their living room window and social ostracism.

They have also experienced acceptance, love and loyalty from family, neighbors and even strangers.

The road traveled by Charles City residents Renee and Mayetta Usher has not been an easy one, nor a common one, but it was the only path the transgender couple could have followed, they say.

"Renee could not choose her life, any more than the rest of us could choose to be the way we are," Mayetta Usher, 56, said of her longtime mate.