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Xanthe Zeitstück and friend Rowan Janiszewski are not only best friends - they also share a boyfriend.

The pair have also both just had their breasts removed and celebrated by going topless on the beach with the lover they share.

Xanthe and Rowan are non-binary , which means they do not identify as male or female.

Both say they knew they had not been born in the right bodies from an early age but also didn't think they were male.

After meeting another non-binary person they realised they were neither male nor female.

Xanthe and Rowan both embarked on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and then paid almost £5,000 to have their breasts and nipples removed.

Xanthe, who also writes historical fantasy novels, said: "All throughout being a teenager and even a kid there were so many things I related to about transgender guys - but I wasn't quite there.

"I thought things like 'I would love to have top surgery but I'm not a man' so it just wasn't connecting.

"When I was 20 I finally met my first other non-binary person and realised that there was a word for it.

(Image: Kennedy News and Media)

"I discovered that there was a way to transition without having to do everything to change myself.

"A couple of years ago I decided to get HRT which definitely helped. I got top surgery. And I'm satisfied with myself.

"It's been a journey to get here and it's a relief to not be constantly uncomfortable and not constantly try to hide certain aspects of myself.

"My proportions actually used to be quite big. I think they lopped about 20 pounds off.

"It was so much more comfortable to just slip on a shirt and I think the moment was a couple of weeks post-op.

"I was getting dressed and I realised I didn't have to wear anything under a shirt anymore.

"It finally hit me when I could just button up and button down over a bare chest without having to wrestle with a binder as well. It was just fantastic.

"It was worth the recovery time, it was worth the time waiting, it was even worth the money.

"It took a long time to save up. I couldn't be happier with the result - it's pretty much exactly what I pictured."

And it was during a 'family' holiday with their boyfriend Seran Janiszewski that the best friends decided to go topless for the first time.

The photo shows the two friends proudly displaying their surgery scars and newly flattened chests as they sit on a towel and smile for the camera.

The polyamorous family are due to move in together ahead of Rowan and Seran's wedding - and Seran was 'proud' of his two partners.

(Image: Kennedy News and Media)

Joining in with cisgender people's online beach photos, Xanthe shared the photo on social media, where it received more than 6,250 likes, shares and comments.

Xanthe, who lives in Savannah, Georgia in the US, wrote: "Here I am, at the beach, shirtless, with the equally non-binary friend that helped me through my top surgery while recovering from theirs, while we watch our boyfriend frolicking in the waves.

"This is the world conservatives warned you about."

The concierge claims they found the 'liberating' experience 'completely natural' and hopes it encourages other people in the LGBT+ community to bare all.

Xanthe said: "It's three people enjoying a day at the beach with people that they love.

"When you take away a lot of the politics it's a perfectly normal situation.

"But some conservatives did react like it was horrifying, like it was something criminal.

"It was just a day at the beach and more bigoted people are really up in arms.

"I felt great about being in public. Honestly it felt very natural. I am thrilled to share the pictures. I didn't expect that much positive feedback from the picture.

"I expected 50/50 as far as that went but probably about 30 per cent has been negative but the rest has been overwhelmingly positive.

(Image: Kennedy News and Media)

"It was supposed to be a bit of a family vacation - it was the happiest I had been in months. I am actually only recently post-op.

"That was the first time we were able to go to the beach after the operation and be topless.

"It was a special moment and I just wanted to share it with people and maybe give a jab to the conservatives a little bit too which is what I did in my caption.

"My friend Rowan was a little bit more nervous than I was but we went ahead anyway and endeavoured to make sure we would stay by each other and also be shirtless.

"That was Rowan's first time being shirtless at the beach too. No one said anything.

"We may have gotten a couple of weird looks but I think most people just assumed it was none of their business, which was great.

"It was definitely was a moment I wanted to broadcast. I was so excited about it.

"It's definitely one of the more interesting pictures in the family photo album.

"I don't regret posting it at all. I'm really glad I did.

"Other people have gotten in touch saying they were really glad I did too because they've been nervous about going to the beach or saying they're non-binary than a binary entity.

"It's cool for people to actually have some representation.

"My logic was there so many people sharing beach photos online and now sharing their day and the loved ones they are with, and they can be public, so so can I.

"It was almost this indignant, well why can't I be too?"

Rowan 'dropped everything' to help to care for Xanthe after their surgery despite still recovering from their own surgery just weeks before.

Xanthe said: "I'm going to move in with Seran and Rowan. It will be nice to just be able to do more of those sorts of things as a family.

(Image: Kennedy News and Media)

"It is a polyamorous relationship. Rowan and I are both dating our boyfriend Seran.

"Those two are engaged. Rowan is a very good friend to me. It was really nice to hang out with the both of them.

"Seran was very proud of us on the beach. He said 'I am so glad that both my partners could take their shirts off on the beach and I couldn't be prouder of both of them'.

"It was definitely was a moment I wanted to broadcast. I was so excited about it."

Xanthe admits they have received backlash from some 'bigots' sharing the posts.

Xanthe, who is originally from Ohio in the US, said: "It has been almost funny to see some of the more ignorant comments because it gets to the point where, if they're ignorant enough, they don't even bother you because they're so funny.

"I had one comment which was 'so they transitioned from female but they're still keeping their boyfriend?' and I thought, 'yeah, we didn't throw him out with the breast binders'.

"It's cool because I get to see people [commenting] and using gendered pronouns for only one person and then being corrected to use non-binary.

"Both Rowan and I opted out of nipple grafts so other people are just saying 'oh wow, I didn't know you could get top surgery without that' and others pointing out that it's rather common.

"I think awareness, visibility and knowing someone who identifies differently than they were assigned at birth really helps.

"I've gotten really good messages from people in Australia, California, even in other countries.

"People tell me that I've helped them take off their shirts in public too.

"It gets people learning more, which I'm always down for."