DES MOINES, Iowa — Nia and Katie Chiaramonte look back on their upbringing with fond memories.
The two met in second grade at Des Moines Christian School, and both women say they were raised in conservative households with strong religious values.
"Growing up in one place, you have created this whole community around who you are, an identity that you put forward into the world," Nia told Local 5. "Most people knew us since we were seven."
Best friends for years, the duo began dating during their junior year of high school. After finishing college, starting a family and moving back to the Des Moines metro, they became heavily involved in their local church.
But all of that changed in 2018, when Nia came out as transgender.
"At the time, we were leaders in the church," Nia said. "When I'm going to the gas station, to the grocery store, and being just looked at, stared at, right, like that's tough."
"Nia's coming out, I think, shook people's idea of us, which in turn makes it difficult to be your full self," Katie added.
Many church members were accepting of Nia's queer identity, but she says the church system as a whole wasn't fully supportive.
Nia and Katie decided to leave the church, and found a new sense of community through One Iowa, an advocacy group for LBGTQ+ Iowans. Ultimately, after floating the idea of leaving Iowa altogether, they decided a new beginning for themselves and their five children might be beneficial.
"I had really lost my identity without having gained a new one or finding a new community. So I had come undone and was just kind of waiting to be built back up," Katie said.
The family of seven now lives in Maryland, which they say has become an "enclave" for families looking to leave other states.
"I realized moving out here that every day was a fight in Iowa. Like there's legislative stuff, people are staring as a trans person, and that went away when we came out here," Nia told Local 5.
Their story has now been publicized on a national scale. The Chiaramontes are one of five families Hulu featured in "We Live Here: The Midwest," a documentary that looks into the lives of LGBTQ+ people living in the Midwest.
Though they no longer live in Iowa, both women have fond memories of their home state and visit often.
They also recently published a new book, "Embracing Queer Family," and will host a presentation at Beaverdale Books in July.