S.A. transgender woman gets a dream wedding

Alexis Valerio and Frank Davis laugh with Rev. Lura Groen as they exchange rings during their wedding at Grace Lutheran Church in Houston on Saturday, July 19, 2014. Alexis Valerio and Frank Davis laugh with Rev. Lura Groen as they exchange rings during their wedding at Grace Lutheran Church in Houston on Saturday, July 19, 2014. Photo: Lisa Krantz, By Lisa Krantz, Express-News Photo: Lisa Krantz, By Lisa Krantz, Express-News Image 1 of / 38 Caption Close S.A. transgender woman gets a dream wedding 1 / 38 Back to Gallery

HOUSTON — When San Antonio native Alexis Valerio, also known as visually impaired female impersonator Alexis Nicole Whitney, walked down the aisle to her groom on Saturday, she held the arm of Chris Wilson, a man she looks up to as a father.

“This is the person that really, really helped me when I was coming out,” says Valerio, a transgender woman, of her time as a high school student in San Antonio.

A regular entertainer on the Texas female impersonation and pageant circuit for almost 20 years, Valerio now lives in Houston, where she met her groom, Frank Davis.

“Half the weddings are gay marriage,” the Rev. Lura Groen, the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Houston's Montrose neighborhood, says of the weddings she presides over. “The other half are straight couples that want to only be married in a church that does gay weddings.” Groen adds, “Grace Lutheran embraces people of all gender identities. To us that is a reason to celebrate and it shows more of how we are made in the image of God.”

Fifteen bridesmaids and groomsmen stood up with the couple as they said traditional wedding vows.

“This was one of my dreams since I was a little girl,” Valerio said. “It's been what I always dreamed of and wanted.”